Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 306 A Man's Competitive Spirit

Little Cannon has been feeling a bit smug lately.

In particular, "Dragon Tiger Gate," which had an investment of 8000 million yuan, was released two weeks later than "Inception," but it was completely overwhelmed by "Inception," and its box office expectations kept dropping.

From an industry estimate of at least 5000 million before its release, to an expected 3000 million after its opening day, and now the hope of reaching 2000 million at the box office...

As a bystander, Xiao Gangpao was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.

He was also secretly pleased with himself for withstanding the pressure from CEO Wang and Zhuang Cheng, the CEO of Media Asia, and for even slamming his fist on the table to set the release date of "The Banquet" for August 30.

He had learned his lesson from this experience.

Last time, his "A World Without Thieves" was released two weeks before "District 9". Based on the box office results of the first two weeks, everyone optimistically estimated that "A World Without Thieves" would reach 150 million.

As a result, the release of District 9 directly siphoned off the box office, making it difficult for A World Without Thieves, which had already grossed 90 million, to even reach 100 million.

Little Cannon has long been unable to understand the market. Despite the overall growth of the box office market, the current situation is not conducive to two blockbuster films.

Especially if one of them becomes a huge hit, it will siphon off all the box office revenue.

That's why, despite the pressure from CEO Wang of Huayi Group and Zhuang Cheng of Huanya Group, he insisted on setting the date for the end of August.

At the time, Zhuang Cheng naively said that according to market research, the box office of mainland films is concentrated in the first two weeks, so it was correct for "The Banquet" to be released half a month after "Inception".

The first two weeks after "Inception" generated buzz and activity in the market, our "The Banquet" can then reap the benefits and dominate the hot market...

I bother!

Damn it, if you weren't the boss of Huanya and one of the investors, I'd spit in your face!
Don't think you know everything about the market just because you're from Hong Kong. You don't know anything about the mainland market.

That's right. According to general patterns, domestic box office revenue is mainly concentrated in the first two weeks.

but!

Is Cao Yang an ordinary person?
Are Cao Yang's films ordinary films?

That kid can't be treated like a normal person.

See, Lao Tzu's words have come true, haven't they?

The people at Shanghai Film Studio blindly trusted those filmmakers in Hong Kong, allowing "Dragon Tiger Gate" to be released two weeks after "Inception." They probably had the same idea as Zhuang Cheng of Media Asia.

They were thinking of taking advantage of the market hype to buy at bargain prices.

what's the result?
Do you really think Cao Yang's reputation was built on art films?

After the disastrous defeat of "Dragon Tiger Gate", Little Cannon often boasted in front of Boss Wang to show off his foresight and his far-sightedness.

Little Cannon participated in an interview program today to promote "The Banquet".

During the program, the host asked him for his opinion on the still-showing film "Inception".

It's not that I'm promoting "Inception," but "Inception" is so popular that mentioning it might attract more attention.

Most importantly, Xiao Gangpao felt he should come up with a "special" argument to draw attention to himself and also to "The Banquet".

He called this "traffic generation".

"I think Cao Yang might be trying to tell the audience: How can you prove that reality is reality and that it really exists? How do you know that our reality is not an illusion?"
We might just be figments of someone else's imagination in their dreams, like the different flow of time in Inception. Our lives, whether short or long, might simply be the dreamer taking a nap of varying degrees.

The idea of ​​"Little Cannon" is neither outrageous nor new. Similar ideas were proposed after the release of "The Matrix," except that we might just be a program.

However, Xiao Gangpao is one of the top directors in China, and his views are sure to become a hot topic in the media, which can generate a "traffic-driving" effect.

Just like how he often speaks "out of line" in front of the public and media before his movies are released.

This is one of his strategies for promoting the movie.

Today, when I put forward this argument, I was still a little proud of myself.

In addition, he has been gloating over postponing the release of "The Banquet" lately, which makes him doubly proud and happy.

After leaving the studio, Xiao Gangpao went straight home by car. When people are triumphant, they are very excited, and this excitement can easily lead to physical excitement.

So Little Cannon hummed a cheesy, off-key tune, ready to go home and have a wild time with Xu Fan. He couldn't help it; he was just feeling a bit aroused these past few days.

The double joy in his mind lasted all the way. When he got home, he saw Xu Fan and grinned as he went up to him, grabbing his face and trying to kiss him.

"Wait, wait a minute."

Xu Fan covered Xiao Gangpao's mouth with his hand, tilted his head back and leaned back, saying with a complicated expression, "I just heard something... um, wait, wait a minute, let me... um, finish."

"What could be wrong? We'll talk about it later."

"What's wrong with you these past few days? You've been acting so strangely. Don't be so impatient..."

People are in high spirits when they have good news.

"What were you trying to say?"

"It's Cao Yang, Cao Yang wrote a script..."

"That kid wrote another script?"

"Hmm..." "What kind of script did you write?"

"I don't know, it's for Tian..."

"Give us land? What do you mean by giving us land?" Little Cannon asked.

"Written for Tian Zhuangzhuang..."

"what?"

Little Cannon felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head, and his triple sense of pride vanished instantly.

"what's wrong with you?"

"I……"

Little Cannon wanted to try to brush it off with a smile, but the news was just too frustrating. Why did that bastard Cao Yang have to write scripts for that old rascal Tian Zhuangzhuang of all people?
He grimaced and then could only say dejectedly, "I...I...sigh!"

Xu Fan had a sudden thought and could roughly guess what Xiao Gangpao was thinking. He wanted to laugh, but he was also a little annoyed.

So Gangzi's thoughts are quite complicated too.

After Lao Tian was banned from directing, he continued to decline, while Gangzi acted very magnanimously, chatting and laughing with Lao Tian as if he didn't care at all.

Old Tian has a chance to turn things around, and Gangzi is clearly uncomfortable about it, which is reflected in various ways.

Men are such complex creatures.

My girlfriends told me that some people get even more excited when their exes are mentioned, I just don't understand it.

Little Cannon rolled over and lay on the bed staring blankly at the ceiling for a long time. Only after Xu Fan went to wash up did he grit his teeth and mutter curses under his breath.

"Damn it, Lao Tian, ​​why you of all people? Can't you just stay quiet and be your department head? You're already such a flop, why are you still making this piece of crap movie!"
And that bastard Cao Yang, of all the people you could write a script for, why that old geezer? Is he your father or your son?!

After cursing for a while, I still wasn't satisfied.

As a director, Xiao Gangpao certainly knows how good Cao Yang's scripts are. Winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay for three consecutive years and the Academy Award for Best Screenplay for two consecutive years is no small feat.

The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became, and Little Cannon angrily sat up in bed.

Suddenly, inspiration struck me while I was sitting down.

Should I try to curry favor with Cao Yang and get him to write a script for me?

Once the idea flashed into my mind, it wouldn't leave me.

At that moment, he seemed to see the three major European awards, the Oscars, the Golden Globes, and that little Golden Rooster.

They were all beckoning to him.

"what?"

This excitement felt as if some obstacle had been overcome once again.

Sure enough, the mental victory strategy is quite reliable.

He jumped out of bed quickly and headed straight for the bathroom.

Let's continue now.

I, Little Steel Cannon, will never be inferior to anyone in my life.

Old Tian decided to set the background of "Pieta" in Hong Kong, so the script didn't need to be changed, and the project was officially launched.

In terms of investment, the plot of this movie is a bit simple and straightforward, and there are no big scenes, so let's tentatively set the budget at 2000 million.

It's not that this movie actually costs 2000 million to make, but the script and Cao Yang are valuable.

Cao Yang was also one of the producers and the film's supervisor. In addition to the script, his remuneration alone was, frankly speaking, more than 2000 million yuan would not be enough if given to him according to the market rate.

However, Cao Yang in China generally doesn't charge Hollywood prices, especially since the director is Lao Tian, ​​and it's a joint investment by Cao Yang's studio and Qingying Film Studio, so they're all his own people.

However, when Edko Films CEO John Kong heard that "Pieta" was going to be set in Hong Kong, he took the initiative to call and wanted to invest in the film.

Jiang Zhiqiang is one of the Hong Kong people who has collaborated with Cao Yang the most, mainly because the distribution of Cao Yang's Chinese-language films in Hong Kong is handled by Jiang Zhiqiang's Edko Films.

Mr. Han from China Film Group also called Cao Yang, implying that he also wanted to invest.

Cao Yang made it clear to President Han that this movie wasn't aimed at box office success.

Mr. Han was overjoyed upon hearing this, and his determination to invest in "Saint's Lament" became even stronger.

Okay, since that's the case, then it's no longer the family-friendly investment amount.

After discussions with Lao Han and Jiang Zhiqiang, the actual investment for "Saint's Lament" was 3600 million yuan, while the publicly announced investment was 5600 million yuan, with Cao Yang's remuneration being converted into a percentage.

His studio didn't invest any money, yet it held a 34% share, with the remaining shares split equally among the other three companies.

This price is already very friendly compared to the other three companies.

Although the actual amount of funds was only 3600 million, Lao Tian couldn't help but sigh for a long time. He had never fought such a wealthy battle since his debut. Cao Yang was able to leverage such a huge force with just a script!

(End of this chapter)