Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 207 Lunar New Year

The shooting budget of "Crazy Stone" was 1500 million yuan. Cao Yang symbolically charged 300 million yuan. The remaining 1200 million yuan could all be used on actors, staff and shooting.

As for how much it will cost in the end, it depends on Ning Hao's ability to spend money.

According to the original trajectory, in 2005, Liu Dehua launched the "Asian Rising Star Director" plan, investing 1250 million Hong Kong dollars to support the works of 6 young Asian directors.

Ning Hao's "Crazy Stone" is one of them, with an investment of about 300 million yuan.

Due to financial constraints, Ning Hao could only choose to shoot with DV and then transfer to plastic in post-production.

Due to current technological limitations, doing this does save money. If you watch it on a computer, you may not see much, but on the big screen in a theater, you can clearly see the lack of movie texture.

Of course, this “Asian Rising Star Director” program is not free support.

Liu Dehua's Yingyi Entertainment Co., Ltd., as an investor, selected six films by young directors across Asia for investment. They did this as an investor.

In addition, there is another requirement, which is that all the films they invest in and shoot must be feature films. They cannot be too literary and cannot make the audience feel too boring.

To put it bluntly, they are just afraid of losing money.

But this was a remarkable plan, both then and now.

Even looking at the whole world, few people are willing to invest in films by young directors. Compared with those famous directors, young directors face too much uncertainty and their success rate is not high.

Ning Hao is extremely excited now. He is grateful to Cao Yang for personally rewriting the script for him, investing in the project and letting him be the director.

It also made Ning Hao feel that he had made the right decision to study for a master's degree under Tian Zhuangzhuang.

Ning Hao knew very well that the starting budget was 1800 million. If Director Cao had not taken the lead, how could he have gotten such a large budget based on his experience in making films such as "Incense"?
No one dares to invest in themselves.

He still vividly remembers the difficulties he encountered when preparing to shoot Incense. Later, if Director Cao hadn't helped him, he wouldn't have sold the copyright for more than 100,000 US dollars...

In short, for Ning Hao, Cao Yang is his benefactor.

To outsiders, he had long been a member of Cao Yang's faction.

"Master Junior, do you have any suggestions on actor selection?"

Ning Hao asked directly.

Cao Yang was shocked. Damn, you really dare to shout.

"Don't yell. Just call me Director Cao like before. Let's not talk about this now."

Ning Hao chuckled and patted his head, "You and my teacher are brothers and sisters, and we were brought up by the same teacher. It's normal for me to call you Junior Uncle."

"No, no, Teacher Situ has brought out many students. Do you have to call him Uncle Master when you see him?"

"That's different..."

"Okay, just call me Director Cao and stop arguing." Cao Yang waved his hand, stopping Ning Hao from speaking.

Ning Hao looked somewhat reluctant, but still muttered: "Anyway, in my heart, you are my junior uncle who has been very kind to me."

Cao Yang pretended not to hear and said, "As for the actors, you can discuss it with Lao Tian. I won't interfere."

"Okay, I'll work with the teacher to shortlist a few candidates first, and then come back to you to finalize the selection."

Ning Hao seemed not to have heard Cao Yang's words and spoke without hesitation.

Afterwards, Ning Hao touched his head a little embarrassedly, and then asked carefully: "Master... Director Cao, there are several female characters in the movie, and they don't have many roles. I want to find a few celebrities to make guest appearances. What do you think..."

"Who are you looking for?"

"Li Xiaoran, Gao Yuanyuan, Pang Bing, and Dong Xuan are all fine."

You have a really big face.

Cao Yang then looked at Ning Hao with some confusion. This guy was very smart and had been with him in several dramas. He must be clear about his relationship with these women.

This is a way to show favor to yourself and invite a big star at the same time? Kill two birds with one stone.

"Once you have decided on the candidates, I will ask about their schedules when the time comes."

"Okay, thank you Director Cao."

Ning Hao left happily.

In the following time, Ning Hao would come to report to Cao Yang every once in a while. Each time, he did not mention any difficulties, but simply talked about the crew's preparation progress, which actors had auditioned, and asked Cao Yang which actor he thought was suitable, etc.

Even though Cao Yang didn't ask for it and told him that he could decide for himself as long as he thought the role was suitable, he still insisted on doing so.

Therefore, although Cao Yang did not participate in the preparation of "Crazy Stone", he was still busy with the post-production of "District 9", but he still knew almost everything about the preparation of "Crazy Stone".

Perhaps influenced by Cao Yang, Ning Hao also chose many familiar faces as the leading actors.

Security Chief Bao Shihong chose Duan Yihong.

In "Crazy Stone", Bao Shihong is indeed the protagonist. The three people in the three-person theft team are actually supporting roles, but their roles are so outstanding that they give people the feeling of being the protagonist.

After considering it, Cao Yang gave Ning Hao a suggestion, asking him to go to the mountain city to shoot and use the dialect. This is also a highlight, and there is no reason not to use it.

In the three-person theft team, Liu Hua was finally chosen as the leader.

Originally, Ning Hao wanted to use Wang Jinsong, an acting teacher from Beijing Film Academy, but Liu Hua had a short flat head and a big gold chain, which gave him a carefree vibe that Wang Jinsong couldn't give him.

So, Wang Jinsong was asked to play the factory director.

Hei Pi chose Huang Bo. This role was actually just a minor supporting role. No one could have thought that Huang Bo would become famous because of it. It can only be said that the actor and the role were too suitable.

The other small army of the three-man gang was named Zhou Yiwei, who was also an old acquaintance of Ning Hao.

Just let Wu Qihua make a cameo appearance as the thief Mike.

Ning Hao pestered Lao Tian for the role of Mr. Feng, and Lao Tian had no choice but to agree to make a cameo appearance.

There are two important female characters, but they don't have many scenes.

Cao Yang thought about it and decided to let Li Xiaoran make a cameo appearance, which could also create a gimmick for their continued cooperation after "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox".

Cao Yang told Pang Bing about the role of Dao Ge's girlfriend and thought it would be a good role for Pang Bing to play, as it was somewhat similar to the role she played in "Cell Phone".

The reason why Lao Tian and Ning Hao "hit each other" was because they had similar views. By following Cao Yang in filming, they both thought they had mastered the "tricks". So when Ning Hao and Lao Tian were preparing for Crazy Stone, they both brought out Cao Yang's superficial things.

Ning Hao brought together several main characters, and he planned to spend one to two months explaining the script and roles to them so that they could achieve better performance results.

Perhaps because he was afraid that he didn't fully understand the script and the role, Ning Hao pestered Cao Yang to explain the play to him and several main actors for two days before explaining the play to the actors himself.

In the next two months, Ning Hao explained the play to the actors while preparing the crew with Lao Tian. Two months was enough time to prepare everything.

By December, Ning Hao felt that everything was ready and was ready to start filming. By this time, Cao Yang's post-production of "District 9" was basically completed.

At the end of October, after discussing with Columbia and China Film, Cao Yang said that the post-production of "District 9" is expected to be completed by the end of November, and asked them what plans they had and when they planned to release it.

Should we wait until next summer to release it?

In fact, it’s not really a discussion. It was Tom Rothman, the executive director of Columbia and the producer of “District 9”, who decided not to do so after checking out the movies scheduled for next summer vacation.

Next year's summer vacation will be filled with many blockbusters.

There’s George Lucas’s “Star Wars: Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith”;
The science fiction film "War of the Worlds" directed by Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise;
"Kingdom of Heaven", which cost $1.4 million;
Batman Begins, directed by Nolan and starring Bale;
There is also the $1.3 million investment in the explosive Bay's "Escape from the Island"...

Compared with these A-level productions, "District 7000", which claimed to have an investment of 4800 million US dollars but actually only had million, is a bit underwhelming.

Tom Rothman does not mean to look down on Cao Yang. On the contrary, he thinks that Cao Yang is an excellent director who combines artistry and commerciality.

But investments don’t lie, and money doesn’t lie. Although there are many big productions with investments of hundreds of millions that have failed, in comparison, those movies with less investment have a greater chance of failing.

Especially when it conflicts with the release date of a big production.

Then Tom Rossman firmly believed that Christmas Eve in December was also a good time slot.

During the period between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, apart from the threat of "Meet the Fockers 2" starring DeLorean and Ben Stiller, other films like "Ocean's Twelve" had already been released and had exhausted their box office potential, and the others were not worth mentioning.

At least that's what Tom Rothman thinks, there aren't many threatening movies this Christmas.

Cao Yang looked at the schedule and it was indeed not bad. Although science fiction blockbusters are usually chosen during the summer vacation, "District 9" is a bit special, so it is actually not bad to choose it during Christmas.

After considering it, China Film Group had no objection to the North American release date, and did not want to compete with so many blockbusters in the summer vacation period, but it was a bit worried about the domestic release date.

Xiao Gangpao's "A World Without Thieves" is released on December 12 under the guise of his second experimental film. The film gathers many big names such as Liu Dehua, Ge You and Li Xiaoran, and the box office should be good.

Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu" was scheduled to be released on December 12. Its box office appeal is unquestionable. If "District 23" were to be released simultaneously around the world, although it would be one day later than Stephen Chow's, the country currently cannot accommodate two blockbuster movies at the same time.

There will definitely be a movie that will suck away the box office.

Mr. Han is also in a difficult situation.

Whether it is "A World Without Thieves" or "Kung Fu", China Film Corporation is involved. "District 9" is a co-production with a large investment that President Han values. We are all in this together and it is impossible for us to fight against ourselves.

Mr. Han discussed the matter with Cao Yang, but was afraid that Cao Yang might be suspicious, so he explained it carefully.

“Junior brother, it’s not that I don’t want to arrange a global simultaneous release on the 24th, nor are we afraid of Stephen Chow’s movie being released a day earlier. It’s mainly because the domestic market is too small to accommodate two box office hits.

"Kung Fu" has already been scheduled for release, and all the necessary publicity and promotion has been done. It is impossible to temporarily move up or postpone the release date. Although the publicity and promotion of District 9 has already begun, the release date has been kept secret, and the final push has not yet been made."

After saying this, he looked at Cao Yang with a smile and continued to explain.

"When two tigers fight, one is bound to be injured. Zhou Xingxing's influence in China is still quite strong. We don't need to fight hard. It will not benefit anyone. Don't you think so, Junior Brother?"

Not only China Film Group, but Columbia also advised Cao Yang against it, fearing that Cao Yang would insist on releasing the film on the 24th in pursuit of a simultaneous global release.

As one of the main investors of "Kung Fu", Columbia, like China Film, does not want to compete with itself. They also advised Cao Yang that there is no need for a global simultaneous release and that the film can be released in China during next year's summer vacation.

Xiao Gangpao also made a special call to Cao Yang.

He told Cao Yang that President Wang knew that he had a good relationship with Cao Yang and specifically asked him to call Cao Yang to persuade him that there was no need to hurt both sides just for the gimmick of a global simultaneous release.

Huayi is also the main investor of "Kung Fu", and they are also afraid.

Cao Yang's "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" just earned 2.13 million yuan in the National Day box office in China, breaking the box office record for the National Day.

This box office result exceeded the 1.5 million yuan of Zhang Yimou's "House of Flying Daggers" which was released during the summer vacation.

Although it ultimately failed to break the domestic box office record held by "Hero", we should remember that this was the National Day holiday with a shorter holiday, not the summer vacation or the Lunar New Year holiday.

Many people believe that if "Nine-Tailed Demon Fox" was released during the summer vacation or the New Year's Day holiday, there is a great chance that it would exceed the box office of "Hero".

So far, looking only at the domestic box office results, Cao Yang, like Zhang Yimou, has two movies with box office revenues exceeding 100 million yuan.

Although Cao Yang's "Despicable Milk" was introduced as a Hollywood movie, its domestic box office performance is real.

When China Film Corporation introduced the film, it earned 1.58 million yuan in the first month. China Film Corporation extended the screening for another month in order to ultimately break the million yuan box office.

As a result, it was taken off the screen at 2.03 million RMB.

In other words, Cao Yang already has two movies that have grossed over 200 million yuan in China, making him the only Chinese person to do so, with Zhang Yimou the only one.

Although Cao Yang debuted late and is a major director of art films, in terms of box office, all his films combined have the highest box office in the country.

If we include the global box office, it goes without saying that even among the Chinese, it is leading by a huge margin.

Stephen Chow does have great box office appeal, but that depends on who you compare him with.

Huayi must also be afraid that Cao Yang will schedule "District 12" in December.

On the contrary, Xiao Gangpao was just watching the fun and seemed to have forgotten that his own movie "A World Without Thieves" would also be released in December.

After conveying Mr. Wang's intention, he chuckled and encouraged him.

"Alas, it's a pity. If I had the chance, I would definitely release my film A World Without Thieves simultaneously around the world. If I had your global influence, I would definitely release it however I want."

Cao Yang could tell that Xiao Gangpao was not just gloating, but was probably dissatisfied with the release time of "Kung Fu", right?

Liu Dehua, the lead actor of "A World Without Thieves", was interviewed by the media a while ago. He was asked whether he was worried about the box office as the release date of the film is so close to that of "Kung Fu".
Liu Dehua admitted that in Hong Kong, no one could outsell Stephen Chow in the same period, and the situation in China should not change. Even if he lost to Stephen Chow at the box office, it would be normal.

Is there any other meaning in what he said?

Anyway, the little cannon must be unhappy to hear that.

(End of this chapter)