Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 511 The Spring Festival is coming

Wang Hao and others' inspection of Galaxy Group's key projects lasted until the week before the Spring Festival holiday, which was the end of January 2016.

After inspecting the company's green ecological farm, they went to OPPO, headquartered in Dongguan, and DJI, headquartered in Shenzhen.

The two companies also expressed a warm welcome to Wang Hao and his team. After all, Wang Hao is one of the major shareholders of their two companies.

Not only has it provided considerable help to the development of these two companies in the past, but the Galaxy Group behind Wang Hao has also been a strategic partner of the two companies over the years.

Therefore, when Wang Hao arrived at their company headquarters, two of his old acquaintances, Chen Mingyong and Wang Tao, were waiting to greet him.

In these two places, Wang Hao not only visited their head offices, but also their R&D centers and intelligent manufacturing bases. He saw what modern high-tech manufacturing industries are like and experienced the true beauty of industry. It can be said that he gained a lot.

After leaving these two companies, Wang Hao and his party's last stop was the branch of [Oriental Galaxy Cinema] located in Hangzhou Bay, which had been built several years ago and had been put into use long ago.

However, as it was close to the Spring Festival holiday, there were not many crews inside the film and television production base. Wang Hao and others took a look, pointed out some slack management problems, and then set off to return to Shangjing.

I have to go back, after all, the Spring Festival holiday is approaching and there are many things to do at the group headquarters.

Such as employees' year-end benefits, year-end reports of subsidiaries under the group, and some work plans and arrangements for next year.

Of course, the most important thing is that Wang Hao’s new movie "Ball Lightning" will be released during this Spring Festival.

In the past month, "Ball Lightning" has released the [Ding Yi version] and [Lin Yun version] trailers respectively, introducing the film from the perspectives of these two people.

In the trailer for Ding Yi, some footage of his previous works in the movie universe series was inserted.

As for Lin Yun's trailer, it mainly shows her fanatical interest in weapons research and development, as well as various novel military secret weapons.

This undoubtedly aroused the audience's interest in this movie.

Of course, in the 2016 Spring Festival movie season, in addition to Wang Hao’s new movie "Ball Lightning", there are also several brave people who want to compete with him.

For example, the movie series "The Man from Macau 3" continues to plan to make money during the Lunar New Year holiday.

Like the previous two films, this "God of Gamblers 3" is still a star-studded film, directed by Andrew Lau and Wong Jing, and starring Hong Kong stars such as Chow Yun-fat, Andy Lau, Nick Cheung, Jacky Cheung, etc. It is marketed as a sequel to the God of Gamblers series, continuing the comedy and action style, and combining nostalgic elements with modern special effects.

The quality of the movie may not be outstanding, but it will surely have no problem making a profit from the box office.

There is also "Journey to the West: The Monkey King 3: The White Bone Demon", which is also a sequel to the film series.

The director of this movie is Soi Cheang, and it stars big names like Aaron Kwok, Gong Li, and Feng Shaofeng. It is an adaptation of the classic IP "Journey to the West".

Just like in “From Vegas to Macau 3”, the special effects and 3D effects were all done by Starlight Fantasy, so Galaxy Pictures is also very familiar with the situation of this project.

I can only say that the special effects of the movie are good and the scenes are grand, but there are some problems with the plot. I guess it can only drink some of the spilled soup from the fingers of "Ball Lightning".

Compared with the first two, the other challenger seems to be more threatening to "Ball Lightning".

After several years of filming and production, Stephen Chow's film "The Mermaid" will also be released during this Spring Festival to compete with "Ball Lightning".

Since the special effects were not produced by Starlight Fantasy Company, Galaxy Pictures didn’t know much about this movie.

However, they also obtained some inside information from the radio and television, and learned that there is still a certain gap in quality between "The Mermaid" and "Ball Lightning".

According to the information released by the producers and the movie universe, this movie seems to be an adaptation of the traditional fairy tale "The Mermaid", setting the story in modern times. It tells the story of the wealthy Liu Xuan who was assassinated by the mermaid Shanshan because his land reclamation project destroyed the marine ecology, but the two fell in love while getting along.

Eventually the hero Liu Xuan came to his senses, stopped the project and saved the mermaid tribe.

The story is not complicated. It just wraps up the environmental issues in a fairy tale shell, criticizing the erosion of nature by commercial interests, and at the same time exploring the alienation of human nature and the redemption of true love.

As for the narrative, this movie continues Stephen Chow's style of nonsensical comedy and black humor, while making the bloody and violent scenes absurd.

In terms of production and casting, according to the promotional materials of "The Mermaid" crew, their special effects team spent a year to create the image of the mermaid and the ocean scene, and adopted a combination of real shooting and post-production methods.

However, this is just to deceive the audience who know nothing. In the eyes of insiders like Galaxy Pictures, even the most exciting part of the movie's trailer, its special effects are far from the first-tier, at best it can only be regarded as Hollywood outsourcing level, so the cost of the special effects they advertised has to be at least halved.

In addition, just like in Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, Stephen Chow still did not play any role in this Mermaid.

Deng Chao plays the male lead Liu Xuan in the movie, newcomer Lin Yun plays the female lead Mermaid Shanshan, and Zhang Yuqi plays the supporting actress Li Ruolan.

This cast isn’t bad, but it’s definitely not outstanding either.

Tell a joke, Deng Chao acts in a comedy.

Fortunately, the "Bad Angels" directed and acted by him has not been released yet, otherwise the crew of "The Mermaid" would definitely have to temporarily change the leading role.

But then again, Stephen Chow is still very famous in China.

For example, before this movie was released, the promotional slogan "We all owe Stephen Chow a movie ticket" had already been shouted out on the Internet, and the response was very good.

Everyone still has some filters of his past works in their minds, and watching a comedy is a good choice during the Spring Festival holiday.

Although Stephen Chow’s movies seem to be able to compete with Wang Hao’s works, the core selling point of Zhou’s nonsensical comedy is actually him.

In the past, there were actors who wanted to replace Stephen Chow, such as Ge Wenhui, Jacky Cheung, and Dicky Cheung. When they debuted, they all had this goal in mind.

But in the end, Stephen Chow is still Stephen Chow. There is no substitute for his nonsensical comedy. Even for himself, as he gets older, it may be difficult for him to replace the young Stephen Chow.

Besides the quality of his movies, Stephen Chow's way of dealing with people is also a little lacking.

For example, in the Hong Kong circle, even though some people were severely suppressed by Wang Hao, they did not give much support and help to Stephen Chow just because he was preparing to compete with Wang Hao at this time.

In this matter, Stephen Chow can still represent the Hong Kong circle to some extent, but during the promotion period before the release of "The Mermaid", the Hong Kong circle remained silent, and their support for Stephen Chow was not even as high as that of the domestic audience.

Of course, in Stephen Chow's view, there is definitely nothing wrong with his way of dealing with people, and with his arrogance, he does not necessarily think that the support of those out-of-date people can provide him with much help.

Over the years, he has not come all by himself. Stephen Chow is confident in his work, but after comparing the works of his boss with those of his challengers, the staff of Galaxy Pictures had only one feeling in their hearts.

Another celebrity of the previous era has come to an end!
The waves behind push the waves ahead, and the new generation is better than the old one!

Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou, Feng Xiaogang, John Woo, Tsui Hark, Ang Lee, Wong Jing...

These people were either crushed by Galaxy Pictures in terms of box office performance, or were recruited by it.

It can be said that after Wang Hao has been deeply involved in the film and television entertainment industry for ten years and built a mature film industrialization system, these traditional entertainment industry bigwigs are facing being eliminated by the times, and a new, younger and more dynamic team of creators is coming to the fore.

And now, Stephen Chow is undoubtedly about to become another veteran to be crushed by the new generation of the entertainment industry.

Of course, Stephen Chow may not think so. He must still feel that he can keep up with the trend of the times and work hard for a few more years.

But any discerning person can see that the only difference is whether it is a small loss or a big loss. It is not shameful to lose to Wang Hao.

As for Wang Hao?
He never paid attention to Stephen Chow and the other party's "The Mermaid".

Competitor? Challenger?
nonexistent.

Galaxy Group's film industrialization system is already very mature. Comparing "Ball Lightning" and "The Mermaid" is like comparing a product of the film industry's fine processing with a handicraft produced in a small workshop. There is no comparison at all.

This is not just a crushing defeat in terms of the quality of the works, but a dimensionality reduction attack on the entire industry chain including publicity, release, and peripheral development.

The toy factories, clothing factories, and jewelry factories that have cooperated with the Galaxy Group have already had their warehouses filled with movie peripherals, just waiting for "Ball Lightning" to be released.

Tao Piao.com started pre-sale for this movie a month in advance, and its popularity on the APP has always ranked first.

Not to mention the businesses that have signed co-branding contracts, as well as the movie channels, military channels and news channels that are promoting the film.

Even in the cinemas, because Wang Hao is more famous than Stephen Chow, Galaxy Pictures has better relations with Wanda, China Film Group, and Shanghai Film Group, and the screenings of "Ball Lightning" in the first three days of the Spring Festival period far exceeded that of "The Mermaid".

Of course, this is only a three-day screening schedule, and cinemas also need to make money. How subsequent screenings will be arranged will still depend on the performance of the film.

Time moved towards the Spring Festival little by little, and the daily work of the Galaxy Group soon came to an end.

The specific holiday arrangements have been sent to the group. Ordinary positions have 15 days of holiday, and important positions have 7 to 10 days.

And for those who live in Beijing, there are also on-duty arrangements, but the on-duty salary is subsidized by three times the salary, and there is also compensatory leave after the holidays.

Of course, those in departments related to the release of "Ball Lightning" will have a harder time during this Spring Festival holiday. They will receive five times the overtime pay, and will also be able to take compensatory leave after the movie is finished in theaters.

In addition, the revenue from this movie will also be taken into account in their performance evaluation next year.

In addition, the Galaxy Group has already allocated houses to its employees in the Galaxy Community, so it is convenient for them to live near the company during the New Year. Many employees even rushed to serve for the release of the movie "Ball Lightning" during the Spring Festival.

At worst, I can just bring my family to Beijing to celebrate the New Year. Who can resist money?

Finally, the time came to February 2016, 2. Because it was impossible to compete with the Spring Festival Gala on New Year's Eve, "Ball Lightning" chose to hold the movie premiere ceremony on this day, and at the same time began advance screenings in several major cities across the country.

On the evening of February 2th, the entrance of the Galaxy Theater, located in the middle of the Avenue of Stars, was bustling with people. Almost half of the famous stars in the entertainment industry were invited to attend the premiere of "Ball Lightning".

Cheng Long, Wu Jing, Li Binbin, Chen Daoming, Feng Xiaogang, Zhang Yimou, Gao Yuanyuan, Fan Bingbing, Aaron Kwok, Chen Kun, Ge You...

However, even these stars are not considered big names at this premiere.

[Former head of Huaying Group and president of the Film and Television Culture and Technology Development Association] - Han Sanping!

[The current helmsman of Huaying Group]——La Peikang!

【Chairman of Wanda Group】——Wang Jianlin!

[Helmsman of the Magic Shadow Group]——Ren Zhonglun!

【Chairman of OPPO】——Chen Mingyong!

[Global Head of Sony Pictures]——Keita Miyamoto!
[Vice President of CJ Entertainment in South Korea]——Lee Eun-hee!

[General Manager of CCTV Film Channel]——Lu Guotao!

It can be said that the release of the movie "Ball Lightning" alarmed most of the partners who had cooperated with Galaxy Group.

Although inconspicuous, the big bosses of the film, television and entertainment industries had to trot over to them when they appeared, and they felt honored to be able to say hello to these real bigwigs in the circle.

Of course, to be honest, these bosses are actually not that bad.

Although the little stars who attended the premiere had to look up to them, veterans in the circle like Jacky Cheung, Zhang Yimou, and Chen Daoming were still able to chat and laugh with bosses like Han Sanping and La Peikang.

The really important people at the premiere didn't even appear in front of the reporters at the door. They all took the elevator in the underground parking garage of the Galaxy Theater directly to the VIP room of the screening room.

These people are low-key and accompanied by Han Sanping and La Peikang personally. They are the real big shots and leaders.

How big is one of them?
Let’s put it this way, even the relevant leaders from the cultural department, navy and army who were invited this time have to sit below this leader named Li.

Moreover, the security of the VIP room and the theater is not the responsibility of the Galaxy Group, but is directly taken over by professionals.

Many lucky audiences and celebrity artists who attended the premiere were not aware of this, but there were also many sharp-eyed people who noticed this situation.

For example, Lao Wang from Wanda, he is a soldier by birth. Although he has been away from the army for many years, he still has some instincts in his bones. After meeting Wang Hao, he mentioned it jokingly.

Wang Hao kept his mouth shut about this and didn't say much to him. He just laughed it off.

(End of this chapter)