Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 468 How to shoot a main theme movie

"The Warring States" grossed over 4500 million in its first week, making it the highest-grossing movie in November.

Zhang Zhiliang was very proud and thought that his highlight moment had come.

Then in the second week, the box office dropped to just over 1000 million.

It’s really miserable!

A week is not as good as one day in the first week.

Zhang Zhiliang was stunned!
This is not just cutting in half, it's cutting starting from the ankle.

In addition to the impact of Sun Li's incident, it is also related to the release of "The Legend of Mir".

"The Clouds and the Water" is China Film Group's key annual project and political task, and its publicity and promotion are not considered from the perspective of economic interests.

Zhang Zhiliang was very depressed. He and Xu Ke were known as "Zhang for culture and Xu for martial arts" in Hong Kong, but they had no idea about how things were done in the mainland.

Moreover, "The Warring States" sold well in Japan and South Korea, so there is no reason why it would not sell well in mainland China.

Seeing the box office increase from over 1000 million per day to over 100 million per day now, Zhang Zhiliang was completely shocked by the nature of the mainland market.

The weather forecast is no different.

what is this?
After summer, it’s winter straight away?
No autumn?
But who can he blame? Should he blame the publisher?

They did a good job, otherwise they wouldn't have earned 4500 million in the first weekend.

Blame your competitors?
He is invincible in the same period!

If it was released at other times, everyone would still curse Star Entertainment.

Because Xingchen Entertainment has movies released in almost all schedules, and the performance is not bad.

But they don’t have it in November.

What? "Extreme Job"?
That's from Golden Harvest.

However, it is reasonable to count it as Xingchen Entertainment, since they have the same boss after all.

But the box office of "Extreme Job" is not good this time, only more than 2000 million in two weeks.

All I can say is that when you encounter a black swan event, you can only blame yourself for being unlucky, because no one can predict it.

The series of news about "Assembly" did draw people's attention back from the online events to the movie, but it was useless because the window period had passed.

Now almost no one is discussing "The Warring States", everyone is talking about "Painted Skin" and "Curse of the Golden Flower".

Everyone knows that the Lunar New Year box office is dominated by "Curse of the Golden Flower" and "Painted Skin".

It is almost impossible for "The Warring States" to return to its peak.

Huayi has not given up. They are still making their final efforts and frantically hyping up King Liu.

The hype is Zhang Chen's evaluation of King Liu:

[The artist with the best public image in the domestic entertainment industry~]

[If a person pretends to be a gentleman all his life, then he is a gentleman~]

[Public figures should play a leading role as role models~]

[Zhang Chen sends a signal that he may work with King Liu in the next movie~]

King Liu is the leading male lead of “The Warring States”, and to hype King Liu is to hype “The Warring States”.

It did attract some media attention. When King Liu was interviewed, he remained calm and composed. When he heard Zhang Chen praising him, he smiled and thanked Zhang Chen for his recognition.

……

A few days later, Xingchen Entertainment welcomed a guest - Deng Chao.

Deng Chao came here specially to thank Zhang Chen.

We were also supposed to thank Fan Xiaopang, but he has joined the crew of Pacific Rim and is currently undergoing physical training.

Deng Chao came alone.

"Director Zhang, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you so much, you really helped us a lot this time~"

The moment he saw Zhang Chen, Deng Chao came up to him enthusiastically, shook Zhang Chen's hand, and kept bowing to express his gratitude.

"You're welcome, sit down~"

Zhang Chen asked his secretary to serve tea, and Deng Chao then let go of Zhang Chen's hand.

"Originally Sun Li was going to come, but she's being watched very closely right now, and there are paparazzi taking pictures outside her house 24 hours a day, so she had no choice but to ask me to come~"

Deng Chao and Sun Li are dating now.

Zhang Chen waved his hands: "It's okay, don't be so polite, it's just a small favor, and I also know your Sun Li, she's a nice person, if I can help you with something like this, I will definitely help~"

Men and women in love are always easily satisfied.

Hearing Zhang Chen's words "your Sun Li", Deng Chao smiled happily.

"What have you been busy with lately?"

"Oh, I'm going to join the crew of "Assembly" tomorrow. I should have gone a long time ago, but Sun Li had this incident recently, so I took a few days off to help deal with it~"

They are all from the same circle, so of course they talk about things in the same circle.

"Yeah, that's right. When something like this happens, it's better to have your boyfriend by your side."

Zhang Chen was chatting casually, and then suddenly thought of Teacher Fu’s new project.

"Have you ever heard of "The Burning Sun"?"

Deng Chao shook his head.

"My teacher's new project will start filming next year. I helped write the script. It's about a murderer's redemption story, aiming for an award. I suddenly feel that you are more compatible with one of the roles. Are you interested..."

Deng Chao was pleasantly surprised: "Director Zhang's project? Then I must participate, all the pay is free..."

I'm just wondering how to repay you.

Zhang Chen smiled and shook his head: "No, no, the pay is what it should be. But I am just recommending, the project is my teacher's, he can decide whether to use you or not. I just think you are very similar to one of the characters, so I invite you to audition..."

"No problem. I'm a supporting role in Assembly. I don't have many scenes. We'll be wrapping up soon. If you need me, Director Zhang can just give me a call~"

When Deng Chao heard that Zhang Chen was willing to recommend him, he was very happy, but he couldn't show it on the surface.

Zhang Chen personally recommended me, what else could I ask for? He was Zhang Chen, the Midas Touch in the circle.

People in the circle say that Zhang Chen has never lost a single game since his debut, and he is just like the protagonist in a novel.

Nowadays, people on the Internet call him and Zhang Yimou "Qiao Feng of the North and Murong of the South".

What I mean is that only these two people have broken the 200 million box office.

But that was before "Racing". Now "Racing" is the highest level. I wonder what people in the circle will call it.

Zhang Chen nodded. He recommended Deng Chao because Deng Chao was originally one of the male protagonists in "The Sun Also Rises" and his performance was good.

Deng Chao also didn’t think that Teacher Zhang Chen’s project would be ignored.

How can it be?

The last release of "Fallen Leaves Return to Their Roots" caused quite a stir.

Deng Chao felt that his trip today was not in vain. Not only did he get to know Zhang Chen, but he also picked up a male lead for free.

Although, there are actually three protagonists.

But he was never afraid of competition.

Deng Chao felt that he had concealed it well, but Zhang Chen could guess how excited he was from the slightly trembling corners of his eyes.

Actually, this guy is pretty miserable.

His current agency contract should still be in the hands of Mingzhu Culture.

Mingzhu Culture was a company founded by his first agent Chen Yong, and Deng Chao gradually became famous under Chen Yong's leadership.

He has participated in TV series such as "Young Emperor", "Young Kangxi", "Young Justice Bao 3" and "Women Don't Cry".

From obscurity to becoming a star.

Later, when the contract was about to expire, Chen Yong wanted to renew it, but Deng Chao did not agree.

Water flows to lower place, man goes to higher position.

After becoming famous, actors will definitely want better resources and a bigger platform, but Mingzhu Culture does not have these.

But Deng Chao was taken advantage of by others because Mingzhu Culture set an unfair clause when signing the contract:
Within two years after Deng Chao's contract with Mingzhu Culture expires, if he wants to sign with any company, he must obtain Mingzhu Culture's consent, otherwise it will be a breach of contract.

Just with this one point, Mingzhu Culture can destroy the Deng Dynasty.

Huayi wanted to sign Deng Chao, but Mingzhu Culture disagreed, so Huayi could not sign him.

So in the past two years, Deng Chao could only participate in the performance as an individual.

The next year, seeing that Deng Chao still had no intention of changing his mind, Mingzhu Culture broke off relations with him completely and filed a lawsuit against Deng Chao. In the end, Deng Chao was so upset that he had to pay 750 million yuan in compensation.

That’s why it’s the most difficult for new actors to make a name for themselves. Not to mention opportunities. Even if you become famous, there are still a lot of pitfalls waiting for you, and you have no choice but to jump into them.

"You have to deal with the agency right away and avoid any disputes~"

Zhang Chen pointed out something to him and Deng Chao nodded, but it was unclear whether he understood it or not.

This was all Zhang Chen could do. The personal relationship between the two parties was not that good; they had only met a few times.

As for "The Burning Sun", he is not necessary.

If there is a dispute, the worst that can happen is to change people.

There are still many male artists with good acting skills in China.

Wang Qianyuan, Duan Yihong, Liu Huohua...

If it really doesn't work, you can get Liang Jiahui here.

"Burning Sun" is the award-winning project that Zhang Chen prepared for his teacher.

This script is very suitable for the aesthetic tastes of domestic experts and professors.

The original time and space also won many awards.

Although he himself doesn't care much about those awards, Teacher Fu definitely has his aspirations.

Art films are judged by their acting and rendering, while commercial films are judged by their plot.

The more a film wants to win awards, the more careful the selection of actors should be.

This is what is called the actor and the movie complementing each other.

A good script without good actors is just a bad movie.

Only when a good actor encounters a good script can he create a classic.

Regarding Teacher Fu, his attitude is very clear:
You tick, tick, tick me, I clatter, clatter you~
Teacher Fu was his guide on the road to film. Without his help, the first film would have been impossible to make, so Zhang Chen didn't mind returning the favor.

If you want money, I will give you money; if you want people, I will give you people; if you want projects, I will give you projects.

Zhang Chen never interferes with Teacher Fu's projects and provides all the help he can.

……

As December comes, we enter the Lunar New Year holiday season.

There is overwhelming publicity for the Lunar New Year movies, with "Painted Skin" and "Curse of the Golden Flower" occupying the largest space.

Zhang Chen and the main creators began to frequently contact various programs, and Zhang Weiping also started to talk nonsense, scolding this today and that tomorrow.

The overwhelming publicity led many people to believe that only two movies would be released during the Lunar New Year holiday.

actually not.

There is also "City of Pain", a Hong Kong movie directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mai, starring Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Xu Jinglei, Shu Qi and others.

There are also foreign art films such as The Veil and Hollywood animation The Greatest Show on Earth. Of course, there is also Jia Kechang's The Good Man of Three Gorges.

"Still Life" and "Curse of the Golden Flower" both chose December 12th to be released.

"Painted Skin" and "City of Pain" both chose December 12st.

The war was about to break out and the smell of gunpowder was everywhere.

Just when everyone was stepping up publicity, Huayi caused trouble again.

The female lead of "The Forbidden Kingdom" was suddenly announced.

Come on, you have nothing to do with the Lunar New Year box office, why are you joining in the fun?

But Huayi joined in. Maybe they felt that they did not participate in the competition for the Lunar New Year box office, and they felt a little unbalanced watching others eating meat, so they jumped out to disgust people.

The heroine of "The Forbidden Kingdom" is Liu Tianxian.

Unexpectedly, it makes sense.

In 2006, Liu Tianxian was extremely popular.

She is the most popular female artist of the year, no doubt about it.

It became so popular that after it was announced, everyone took it for granted.

Zhang Chen suddenly realized, no wonder Liu Tianxian did not participate in the casting of "Pacific Rim" some time ago.

Originally he thought that Liu Xiaoli had changed her gender, or she didn't want her daughter to be a match for someone else.

It turns out that he had been planning a big move for a long time.

The reason for not participating is probably because he is afraid of scheduling conflicts between the two dramas.

Come to think of it, there may indeed be a schedule conflict.

After "Painted Skin" in December, "Pacific Rim" will start filming.

……

In Hong Kong, Song Dai of Silver Metropolis received a reply from Chen Xi: "We welcome further cooperation between Silver Metropolis and Golden Harvest. Both parties are experienced film and television companies and can cooperate to develop some film projects.

In addition, Director Zhang was very indignant about the Academy Awards declaring him the "most unpopular person".

He hopes that the Academy Awards will publish an apology in the top three best-selling newspapers in Hong Kong for a week to express his apology. Only in this way will Director Zhang and his company consider renewing their relationship with the Academy Awards.

Seeing such conditions, Song Dai smiled bitterly.

As expected, no young person who becomes famous at a young age is easy to deal with. Song Dai is almost certain that the Academy Awards will not accept the conditions proposed.

Zhang Chen wants face, and the Academy Awards want even more face.

This kind of private reconciliation is probably the lowest gesture the Academy Awards can make.

According to Zhang Chen, it is equivalent to rubbing the face of the Academy Awards on the ground.

Tolerable or unbearable?
But Zhang Chen is now at the peak of his career. The movies produced by his company, Star Entertainment, became the annual box office champions in the mainland, and the others were also hits.

Although the box office of another film produced by Golden Harvest was not as amazing, the results were still not bad.

If these films do not participate in the judging of next year's Academy Awards, then what authority will the films selected by the Academy Awards have?

No matter which best film you choose, someone will definitely come out and say that it is far worse than a certain movie produced by Star Entertainment.

What to do then?
If we want to refute the rumors, it’s not that we didn’t choose, but that others didn’t submit their reviews.

The audience won’t care about this, they will just think that the Academy Awards are rigged.

What is ultimately damaged is the authority of the Academy Awards!
A headache!
But I just can't feel any resentment.

Chen Xi was very considerate and invited Yindu Organization to further cooperate, which meant respecting the big brother.

But at the same time, it also shows the attitude. The Silver Medal is the Silver Medal, and the Hong Kong Film Awards is the Hong Kong Film Awards. It is not easy for the Hong Kong Film Awards to mend their ways. They need to show their sincerity first...

……

China Film Academy, in Han Sanye's office
Zhang Chen sat down on the sofa opposite. The Third Master threw him a cigarette. Zhang Chen took out his lighter and prepared to light it, but it kept clicking and wouldn't light.

"How is the box office of "The Clouds and Water"?"

Zhang Chen shook the lighter in his hand and saw that there was still plenty of liquid inside. He guessed that there was something wrong with the flint.

"Not very good, the first day box office was only about 300 million~"

Han Sanping lit his own cigarette and threw the lighter over.

Zhang Chen took it and lit it for himself.

"I heard that the publicity cost nearly 10 million?"

Han Sanping nodded: "About the same, but this film is definitely a loss."

There was a hint of desolation in San Ye's tone. "The Clouds and Water" was China Film's key annual project. Now that it has failed, it must have had some impact on him.

"You're saying that mainstream films can't be successful at the box office?"

"Of course."

"Oh, tell me about it~"

Seeing Han Sanping showing great interest, Zhang Chen curled his lips and said, "In fact, "Yun Shui Yao" is much stronger than the previous main themes. At least it is not a model opera..."

"The Clouds and the Water" is actually a love movie that tells a love story across the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, but the story is set in that special era.

After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, during the turbulent period such as the Kuomintang-Communist Civil War, society faced great changes and uncertainties.

The actors also come from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, Chen Kun, Vivian Hsu, Li Bingbing~
The author of the original work is even more awesome, Zhang Kehui. If you go to Baidu, you will see a lot of titles. I dare not write them for fear of 404.

Once, Zhang Kehui was chatting with an old Taiwanese compatriot and listened to him tell the story of his separation from his girlfriend when he was young.

When they parted, his girlfriend gave him a notebook with a picture of roses and a short poem written on it.

This gave Zhang Kehui the urge to create, and he combined the emotional experiences of three other old Taiwanese compatriots to create "Yun Shui Yao".

From this we can see that all literary works are the same.

The literary works in the past were also plagiarized, and the online articles now are also plagiarized, everyone is the same.

“Compared with the previous main themes, ‘Yun Shui Yao’ is innovative, but it is not enough and is not commercial enough.”

"In fact, if you just want high box office, there is a way to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs: pile up stars~"

Zhang Chen decided to come up with a bad idea first. Han Sanping did not comment, but signaled with his eyes to continue.

“For example, if you take a historical event and all the actors in it are played by celebrities, this gimmick alone is very attractive, and many people are willing to go to the cinema to have a look.

But forget about word of mouth. It’s hard to make a good film like this. It’s certain to be criticized. And the requirements for the producers are relatively high. The producers must be of high enough status to allow these stars to act in the film with low or even no pay. Otherwise, the pay alone is an astronomical figure…”

What Zhang Chen said was exactly what Han Sanye thought in later generations, and Sanye seemed to be thinking about something.

"What about a method that doesn't kill the goose that lays the eggs?"

Seeing that the Third Master was fooled, Zhang Chen felt proud.

The reason why he said this was to correct the other party's point of view. Now the other party seems to have realized it, and what remains is to persuade him step by step.

“That’s possible, but it needs to be built well.

For example, the transmission of intelligence by underground party members can be made into a suspense drama. You have seen "Before Dawn", right? If we condense it and make it into a movie, as long as the rhythm and atmosphere are well grasped, the box office should be good.

You can also do military themes..."

"The kind from "Armageddon"?"

“No, the perspective of “Armageddon” is too grand. It should follow the example of “Saving Daimyo Ryan” and start with small characters and tell a story from a micro perspective.

As for the story itself, there are too many ready-made ones.

For example, the 38th Army stationed in my hometown, known as the "Long Live Army", was the strongest in the Korean War, the Iron Triangle Battle, and the 14-hour forced march. We have heard these stories since we were young...

There are so many miracles created that many people don’t believe them.

Why was the previous main theme not good to listen to? Because it was all the same old model operas, people felt it was fake.

Real heroes are also human beings, and as human beings they will die, feel pain, and be afraid.

It's just that they can overcome these problems in order to protect something more important.

If we don't fight this battle, our next generation will have to fight it.
Isn't this the best reason?
The War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea is a very good subject. The war achievements, the bravery of our army, and the spirit of the soldiers are enough.

It’s just that too few people understand it.

Unless you are interested in military affairs, few people would go into it specifically to learn about it.

But this type of film has the potential to be a big hit.

Because it’s out of the circle.

The so-called "out-of-circle" means that those who have no habit of watching movies also buy tickets to watch movies.

The generation that fought in the Korean War and their next generation basically have no habit of watching movies.

But the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea was their youth. A movie tells about their youth. I believe everyone wants to watch it.
The box office revenue for this part alone is considerable.

This is not to mention the regional effect.

The 38th Army's Long Live Army is stationed in the coal-bearing provinces. Just for this reason, the coal-bearing provinces must strongly support it. I'm not talking about official support, but civilian support.

The common people will be proud to know that they once had such a strong army by their side, and their sense of honor will force them to spontaneously buy votes to support it..."

At this point, Zhang Chen spread his hands and said, "This is just the economic aspect. When it comes to the spiritual aspect, it can enhance the national honor and cohesion, correct the three views of young people, etc. There are too many invisible benefits..."

When Zhang Chen was talking about this, Han Sanping did not interrupt him until the end. He said, "I really don't understand what's wrong with your brain. Why do things become so simple when they come to you..."

What Zhang Chen said has not been verified yet, but based on his past experience, the possibility of success is very high.

"It's so simple, why don't you do it yourself?"

Zhang Chen curled his lips: "Do you know what the biggest difficulty of this kind of film is?"

"what?"

“Censorship!”

……

In the next few days, "Yun Shui Yao" was still hanging on like a limp song, with a daily revenue of just over 100 million.

China Film Group definitely lost money on this movie, and couldn’t even recoup the publicity and promotion costs.

But again, this is a political task.

Zhang Chen remembered that in the original time and space, the total box office of this film seemed to be 3600 million, not even 4000 million.

As its release date approaches, the promotion of "Curse of the Golden Flower" is in full swing, and two trailers have been released so far.

"The Warring States" is already at the end of its rope, but there are still some people discussing it online, but most of the comments are not very good.

The scene was quite grand, and King Liu acted well, but please don't act like this again in the future~
Why is there nothing memorable after watching a two-hour movie?

A typical mainland Hollywood film, with a vague theme and no in-depth thinking~
The scene is grand but not sophisticated, neither high nor low, in one word - mediocre~
How can I describe it? The city that Ge Li spent a lot of effort to save was destroyed again by King Liang with a wave of his hand. It was really a huge joke. It is better to save your energy instead of fighting for an incompetent person.

How should I put it? Apart from uncontrollable factors such as the black swan event, the biggest problem of "The Warring States" lies with the director, not the actors.

The actors' performances are actually pretty OK. King Liu as Mo Jia and Wang Zhiwen as King Liang both gave very good performances.

But the movie is just not memorable.

The big scene was just average and didn't catch the eye.

The movie also has no shocking scenes.

This is all the director's fault.

So overall, "The Warring States" is not a bad movie, but it is not a good movie either.

Perhaps the only commendable thing about the entire film is the costumes, which are all low-key dark or light colors, trying to be close to history in terms of color.

(End of this chapter)