Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 534 Complaint

Media reports:

Zhang Chen's new film is sandwiched between "The Forbidden Kingdom" and "Red Cliff", and its future is uncertain~
Relevant people speculate that the movie scheduled for release in June by Xingchen Entertainment is "Pacific Rim 6", and the mysterious marketing is to arouse the audience's interest~
Zhang Chen's new film is suspected to be rejected by the film censorship agency and may not be released~
The media has a strong ability to associate ideas, and within a day, rumors were flying everywhere.

Cheng Long happened to be promoting "The Forbidden Kingdom" these days. At the promotion site, a reporter asked him, "Brother Cheng Long, some people on the Internet said that Zhang Chen's new movie will be sandwiched between "The Forbidden Kingdom" and "Red Cliff" and will fail at the box office. What do you think?"

Cheng Long is still called "Big Brother" in the past two years, and it will take a few years for him to become "Uncle Long".

It was inappropriate to talk about other movies during the promotion of "The Forbidden Kingdom", but Cheng Long couldn't help himself:

"How is that possible? The new movie is comparable to Pacific Rim. It would be unreasonable if it doesn't make 500 million. How could it be a big flop..."

Well, Cheng Long is actually willing to respond?
The reporters realized this was an opportunity and jumped on it.

"That movie is Pacific Rim 2~"

"Of course not, the movie is..."

Cheng Long almost let the cat out of the bag, but luckily he stopped himself in time.

"You are so cunning, I almost fell into your trap~"

Cheng Long was not angry. Seeing this, the reporters smiled and said, "Brother Long, please help us. Let me reveal something. We don't know anything. We can't write our article..."

Cheng Long then smiled and said, "Okay, stop pretending to be pitiful here. I definitely can't reveal the specific information because I signed a confidentiality agreement. But I can tell you that the movie has actually started to be promoted a long time ago, and it has even caused heated discussions on the Internet..."

what?
Although Cheng Long didn't say everything, the information he revealed surprised them even more.

How come they have already started promoting it? They don’t even know how to promote the name, and it has caused heated discussions online...

But Cheng Long doesn't look like he's lying.

The reporters wanted to continue asking questions, but a staff member came up to remind them that Cheng Long should not continue with topics unrelated to "The Forbidden Kingdom".

But the doubts still exist.

What exactly is going on?

The media people couldn't figure out what was going on and could only report it verbatim.

Then, netizens all over the country were confused.

Why has the promotion already started?
Where was it promoted?

I’ve seen movie promotions before, but this is really the first time that Xingchen Entertainment has done this.

Not only is he mysterious, but his statements are also inconsistent.

The movie's title hasn't even been announced yet, but they're saying that the movie is already being promoted. Isn't that nonsense?
It's a complete waste of media resources.

The distributors of "The Forbidden Kingdom" and "Resurrection of the Dragon" were furious. These two films were released on April 4 and April 24 respectively, which was a time when they needed to be promoted vigorously, but they were unexpectedly overshadowed by a movie that didn't even have a name.

Tianya, Mop, Sina, NetEase, and other well-known websites and forums actually have discussions about the "2012 Doomsday", and the popularity is not low. Other categories have also been derived, such as Mayan culture, mysterious events, and unsolved mysteries of the world...

These sections are hotly discussed every day, but no one would have thought that this topic is actually related to Zhang Chen's new movie.

However, netizens are not without achievements. There are still many talented people in this group, and many hidden dragons and crouching tigers are there.

For example, there is a post on Tianya Forum that is very lively:
[Brothers, to be honest, I work in the radio and television industry, you are kidding me, Xiao Jiji, I have asked someone and Xingchen Entertainment does have a movie in June, which has passed the review, but the name and subject matter are completely confidential, and I can't find out anything...]

Once there is a first whistleblower, there will be a second one.

[Like the brother above, this is a lie, Xiaojiji. I work in a cinema chain, and I can confirm that our cinema chain has received a notice that all the schedules in June will be reserved for Zhang Chen's new film, but we can't find out what the subject is, and the copy hasn't been delivered to us yet...]

[Really? I checked the filing permit and found nothing. It must have been hidden on purpose. I swear everything I said is true. Am I kidding, Xiaojiji?]

[Me too, Xiao Jiji, I am from the film production company, I can only say that the film is very exciting, it is a type that has never been seen before in China, I can’t say more, I signed a confidentiality agreement...]

Then the building tilted
[Brother above, did you miss two words when you swore~]

[Can we still call each other brothers if we don’t have little Jiji? 】

[Yue Buqun of Huashan is here~]

[Lin Pingzhi of Huashan is here to meet the Master~]

The Internet is always happy. People don’t care about the truth, they only care about the happy atmosphere.

……

At night, Zhang Chen talked to David Heyman on the phone.

Every few days, they would call to update each other on their progress.

Regarding the topic of 'the end of the world in 2012', North America and Europe marketed it much better than Asia.

Asians, especially Chinese, naturally don't believe this.

Although everyone was chatting animatedly, most of the time they were just joining in the fun.

North America is different from Europe. There are people who really believe it.

Many wealthy people have the habit of building underground shelters.

Similar propaganda coverage is also very high among ordinary people.

Similar to the doomsday game, you can fulfill your wishes before the end of the world and things like doomsday countdown can be seen everywhere.

The atmosphere of doomsday is very chaotic, and people are quite panic-stricken...

There are also detailed rumors about how the world will end in 2012, including planetary collisions, tsunamis, earthquakes, the disappearance of the sun, and the melting of the earth's core...

I don’t know if there is any scientific basis for this, but it sounds quite scientific anyway.

"The hype about the end of the world cannot stop. News reports will continue to be published, and topics will be created online - the world is about to end, how are you going to spend the last five years?"

This is cruel enough. It will completely mess up the world.

It is estimated that once this notice is issued, the crime rate will increase by several percentage points.

"In addition, I think we can create some conflicts. Right now, the rumors are basically spread by the public and the media. We can invite some experts and scientists to come out and debunk the rumors. As long as there are debates, there will be topics, and as long as there are topics, there will be box office sales..."

Zhang Chen couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

David Heyman is indeed a well-known producer, and his methods of stirring emotions are endless.

"No problem David, we will take care of China~"

He was not worried that this topic would cause panic in China, because "2012" did not cause any trouble in his previous life.

The two chatted for a while and ended the call.

On the other end of the phone, David Heyman became more and more confident about the collaboration on "2012".

The same is true for Warner Bros.

The six major Hollywood studios all know that the Chinese market is a huge market, but they did not pay much attention to it before.

After all, there is a limit on the number of imported films, and the box office is only over 10 million US dollars (100 million RMB).

It was "Pacific Rim" that made them really start to take this market seriously.

The box office of "Pacific Rim" in China is currently 5 million, about million US dollars, which is a huge market.

Although due to the China-US agreement, the profit sharing ratio is very low, only 13%.

But at least it shows that this market is viable. Not only Warner Bros., but also the other five major Hollywood studios have set their sights on this market.

"2012" has attracted much attention, and they want to see if it is a one-time exception or if they can reach that level every time.

Others may still be skeptical, but David Heyman is full of confidence.

In fact, everyone who has seen the finished film is full of confidence.

That level of special effects and wild imagination is why they tried every possible way to promote it, making this movie a global hit.

Warner executives have already told him to maintain a good relationship with Zhang Chen.

Roland Emmerich has always been a favorite of Fox, and Warner also wants to have its own disaster film director. Zhang Chen is undoubtedly the most suitable one.

……

On the Maopu forum, someone posted a complaint in the name of the producer of "Resurrection of the Dragon":

[A movie without even a name actually grabbed the media resources of the popular movie. A director with 500 million is amazing! ]

The first comment appeared just one minute after the post was published:
[Yes, 500 million is amazing.]

If you are not convinced, you can also make "Resurrection of the Dragon" to 500 million. As long as it exceeds "Pacific Rim", I will apologize to you immediately...】

When everyone looked, they saw that it was an ID called "Carrying a knife but no umbrella on a rainy night". After some investigation and analysis by netizens, it must be Zhang Chen Benchen.

This time, the post became completely popular.

Not only was it pinned on Mop.com, it was also forwarded to major platforms, accompanied by various clickbait headlines.

[Shocked! Caught Zhang Chen Benchen while fishing~]

[Zhang Chen appeared and personally criticized the producers of "Resurrection of the Dragon"~]

The producers of "The Dragon Resurrection" did not expect that they just wanted to get some traffic, but they ended up exposing Zhang Chen himself.

How to do?
It's a bit difficult to get off the tiger!

Can "Resurrection of the Dragon" reach a box office of 500 million?

Of course not.

In fact, as long as the box office can reach 100 million, the producer, Art Films, will be satisfied.

The box office results were indeed good at the beginning, with 3000 million in the first weekend and 389 million in Hong Kong.

According to the rule that the first weekend box office generally accounts for one-third of the total box office, it is possible for the total box office to reach the 100 million threshold.

Everyone at ArtNet Pictures is full of expectations.

Then, in the second week, the box office was cut in half.

By the way, this movie was originally scheduled for the Lunar New Year holiday, but didn’t Lust, Caution have an issue?
"Resurrection of the Dragon" was also sent back for re-examination on the grounds that it had excessively changed the historical classic.

As a result, it was changed to April.

The producer was also very depressed. The attention to "Resurrection of the Dragon" was not very high. Everyone was paying attention to "The Forbidden Kingdom" and "Red Cliff". Who cared about him?

Apart from the name, this film has nothing to do with the Three Kingdoms.

Ning Hao went to see it with great interest, and then came back cursing.

"What happened to make you so angry?"

“Stop talking about it. I find that these Hong Kong directors always repeat the same thing no matter what they shoot.

The Three Kingdoms, what a grand subject, with so many brilliant characters, but in their hands, it was made into a gang movie, full of petty snobbery...

Let me tell you what kind of story "The Dragon Resurrection" is as I understand it:
After sneaking into Hong Kong, Daquanzi A'long was left alone and made a living in a small gang called the Dashu Gang.

There was a small leader in the gang named Luo Ping'an who took good care of him because they were from the same hometown.

Luo Ping'an wanted to do great things but never had the chance.

In the fight with the neighboring Dawei Gang, A'long showed bravery, snatched the dragon head stick from the leader of the Dacao Gang, Cao Ye, and saved the second generation of the gang, no, in Hong Kong he should be called the prince.

The leader of the Dashu Gang admired him very much, and Mr. Baizhishan Liang also thought highly of him and promoted him to the position of regional leader.

But Luo Ping'an, who was once A Long's boss, has not achieved anything and can only continue to be a low-level minion.

In the following decades, the Da Shu Gang continued to fight and grow, gradually developing from a small and medium-sized gang into one of the three major gang forces in Hong Kong Island.

But in this process, many of the original brothers grew old or died.

Aaron also became an old man.

In another gunfight, Baizhishan Yeliang planned to capture the most important territory of the Dawei Gang, but A Long was plotted against and used as cannon fodder to attract firepower.

It so happened that at this time, the old friend and former big brother Luo Pingan secretly turned against him.

It turned out that he was afraid that his brother would suffer and drive a Land Rover. He felt unbalanced after seeing his brother Aaron doing well in recent years.

In addition, he felt resentful towards the gang for not using him, so he simply became a traitor.

The result was naturally that the Da Shu Gang suffered heavy losses.

Amidst heavy siege, the two brothers talked to each other and finally resolved their misunderstandings.

Aaron chose to forgive Luo Pingan, and rushed towards the enemy without hesitation, and died gloriously in battle. "

After Ning Hao finished speaking, Zhang Chen was very interested: "That sounds good~"

Ning Hao shrugged: "If it wasn't a story about the Three Kingdoms, it would be okay, but it has to be based on the Three Kingdoms...

Since you have chosen the Three Kingdoms, you should just film the story of the Three Kingdoms honestly. Why do you have to film the story of brotherhood..."

This is what Ning Hao cannot understand the most.

"The character positioning is not good either. Zhao Zilong on a white horse and with a silver spear is the most well-known image of Zhao Zilong. Then a dark horse appeared in the movie. When I saw it, I just sighed..."

Zhang Chen almost laughed out loud, "Hong Kong directors are notorious for not respecting history, but they also love to film history..."

In fact, strictly speaking, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is not history, but the image of Zhao Zilong among the people is a white horse and a silver spear, which is the general perception of the audience.

It’s like when we talk about Sun Wukong, we think of him as a naughty monkey who dares to fight against heaven and earth. This is a common perception among all audiences and cannot be overturned.

If you want to deconstruct this, you are going against the perception of the entire audience, and it would be strange if the box office was good.

Generally speaking, only big and established directors make this mistake, being too conceited and wanting to educate the audience all the time.

But Li Rengang is not a great director. I don’t know where he learned these bad habits.

Zhang Chen remembered something and became interested again: "Who is Luo Ping'an, the elder brother of A-Long in the story? Why don't I remember this person in Romance of the Three Kingdoms?"

"You're right not to remember it, because this is simply a character made up by the director himself..."

"Fictitious? There are so many famous people and events in the Three Kingdoms, it's hard to film all of them, how can you make it up?"

Ning Hao was also speechless: "That's why I don't understand. This movie is so weird. I don't understand what the producers are thinking.

If I were to shoot a film on the Three Kingdoms theme, I would be extremely cautious and try my best to strike a balance between the romance and the history book.

They changed it however they wanted. The whole movie is actually Japanese-style, and they put the Hong Kong gang story under the skin of the Three Kingdoms and dared to shoot it so openly. It seems that they don’t know how to shoot anything other than brotherhood, betrayal and women..."

(End of this chapter)