Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 420 No comparison, no harm

"Brother, congratulations! 4600 million in three days, you're amazing."

Little Cannon gave Cao Yang a thumbs up and grinned.

To be honest, he was a little nervous before the box office results for "Love in the Seaside City" came out.

Currently, the highest-grossing Chinese-language film in China, and the temporary record holder, is "Assembly," directed by Xiao Gangpao and Cao Yang.

The film grossed over 3.2 million yuan in its normal one-month run. After being extended for another month, it still didn't break 4 million yuan, but 3.8 million yuan is still a remarkable achievement.

As of now, this box office ranking is fourth in China, excluding Cao Yang's "District 9", "Inception" and "Pirates of the Caribbean".

It surpassed the 3.6 ​​million yuan of "Titanic" and the 2.98 million yuan of "Curse of the Golden Flower" by Zhang Yimou, and even surpassed the 1.8 million yuan of "The Promise".

In the realm of Chinese-language films, it's undoubtedly number one.

Xiao Gangpao believes that in this field in China, only Cao Yang can rival him.

The rest, including the so-called five major directors in mainland China—Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, and Tian Qiyun—are not to be outdone, but none of them are worthy of serious consideration.

That's why he was a little worried about Cao Yang's upcoming film, "Love in the Seaside City".

However, once the box office results came out, he was relieved.

Three days, 4600 million; even with the midnight showing, 630 million, it's only 5230 million, averaging just 1700 million per day.

"Assembly" grossed 6800 million yuan in its first three days, averaging 2260 million yuan per day, much more than "Love in the Seaside City".

Although "Love in the Seaside City" is an art film and not really suitable for this kind of comparison, in my opinion, I don't care whether it's an art film or a commercial film, I just want to ask: Is it a Chinese-language film?
When ranking Chinese-language films at the box office, should we divide them into commercial films and art films?

Haha, that makes perfect sense.

As for Cao Yang's other three films, they all outperformed "Assembly" at the box office, ranking among the top three in the domestic box office charts, so there is no comparison between them.

Those three films aren't Chinese-language films, so what good is a high box office?

"Alright, alright, Lao Feng, are you praising me or praising yourself?"

Cao Yang said with a smile, "Judging from the current box office trend, it definitely won't outsell 'Assembly'."

Upon hearing Cao Yang's words, Little Cannon's mouth gaped even wider, revealing even more of his teeth and gums.

"Hey, what are you talking about? Do you think I'm that kind of person? 'Love in the Seaside City' is an art film. Only you have the appeal to make an art film like this at the box office. No one else could do it."

After saying all that, Xiao Gangpao asked with some curiosity, "I overheard Mr. Wang saying the other day that the global rights to 'Love in the Seaside City' sold very well. How much did it sell for?"

Actually, it's not that Xiao Wang is envious, but that he's jealous and cursing, saying that this person got lucky, that person got lucky, and that they should just wait and see what a box office bomb looks like when "The Forbidden Kingdom" is released.

"Jackie Chan still has a very strong box office appeal in East Asia and Southeast Asia, and he also has many fans in North America. Currently, the rights to 'Love in the Seaside City' have been almost sold in East Asia, Southeast Asia, North America and Europe, and some rights have also been sold in South America. All in all, it's probably a little over 6000 million."

"There's nothing to hide," Cao Yang said after making a rough calculation.

Little Cannon swallowed hard and tentatively asked, "RMB?"

"Dollar."

"Hold!"

After saying that, Little Cannon, probably afraid that Cao Yang would misunderstand, quickly gave a thumbs up and praised him "fiercely": "Awesome, really awesome!"

Starting in January, the RMB appreciated rapidly in the first half of this year, reaching a high of over 7.3, and now in April, the average is still around 7.3.

At this exchange rate, over 6000 million US dollars is at least 4.4 million RMB.

Most importantly, this 4.4 million RMB doesn't require any revenue sharing with theaters, nor does it require spending money on print runs, distribution, or promotion...

It's infuriating that they can sell copyrights globally!
Little Steel Cannon also wants to sell its copyrights globally.

Unfortunately, no matter what type of film he makes, it's difficult to sell the foreign rights for a good price. Those damn foreigners only care about a few specific people in China and don't know how to be flexible at all, which is infuriating.

But thinking about it, this movie was directed by Cao Yang, who won Best Director and Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival, and it starred Jackie Chan. It's not unreasonable that it could sell its rights for such a "sky-high" price worldwide.

Little Cannon is definitely very envious.

He started to change the subject, not wanting to talk about these "heartbreaking" things anymore.

"I contacted Tangshan the day before yesterday. They were very interested when they heard that we wanted to make a movie about the Tangshan earthquake. They held a meeting overnight and decided that they could not only provide a lot of materials from that time, but also provide a filming subsidy of about 30 million yuan."

The so-called filming subsidies are, in essence, publicity and promotion expenses used to enhance the city's reputation and overall image.

This money will not be used for the film's revenue; it's purely for promoting the city.

Of course, these subsidies are not available to everyone, nor can just anyone take the photos.

If it were an ordinary director making the film, the local government would be afraid of damaging its image, so of course they would try to stop the project from being approved.

However, if Cao Yang and Xiao Gangpao join forces, there will be no problem, and the subsidy is the greatest sincerity the local government can offer.

Cao Yang nodded.

In fact, there are still many documents and novels in China that record the Tangshan earthquake.

There is a book called "Personal Account of the Tangshan Earthquake," which was specially planned and edited by the Publicity and Education Center of the Beijing Earthquake Bureau to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Tangshan earthquake.

The book contains 60 articles by earthquake survivors and witnesses, recording from a personal perspective the impact of the Tangshan earthquake on ordinary people's families and lives, as well as their emotional journey and life experiences after the earthquake.

However, Cao Yang did not purchase the book or any of its articles for adaptation. Instead, he chose a novel called "Aftershocks" published in People's Literature in January 2007.

The movie "Aftershock" directed by Xiao Gangpao is quite good; it was adapted from this novel.

"Old Cao, to tell you the truth, I've actually had the idea of ​​making this kind of movie for a long time, but..."

As he spoke, he shook his head and sighed, "It's just that nobody is optimistic about this kind of movie. They think it's a waste of money and there's no way it will be profitable. It'll be difficult to get a big investment."

It's not just a little difficult, it's extremely difficult.

Nobody knows how the market will be for a film like this.

However, if Cao Yang is involved, things will be different. At least companies that were previously unwilling to invest will be eager to give him money at the meeting.

China Film Group, Qingdao Film Studio, and even Huayi Brothers all invested without hesitation.

"I'll let you in on a secret: I'm not sure how the box office will turn out either."

Cao Yang said, "This movie will cost at least 1 million yuan to produce. I don't know if it can break even. So, we need to promote it well to boost box office revenue."

Little Cannon was somewhat skeptical. He glanced at Cao Yang and asked doubtfully, "Even you aren't confident?"

"I'm not a god."

Cao Yang certainly knew that Little Cannon would be making this movie next year, and that it would achieve a super high box office of 6.5 million yuan after its release.

However, he certainly wouldn't say he was confident about the box office performance, just so that Xiao Gangpao would seriously follow his promotional plan.

Seeing that Xiao Gangpao frowned, Cao Yang continued to encourage him, "However, if such a film is of high quality, it is very easy for it to win awards."

Little Cannon's brow relaxed.

"However, awards alone are not enough. You know, if our collaboration fails at the box office, we'll be ridiculed."

The little cannon brought it up himself. "Hmm."

Cao Yang nodded, seemingly agreeing.

"How about we create some hype?" the young man tentatively asked.

After saying that, perhaps feeling that it sounded too opportunistic, he changed his mind and said, "What I meant was, how about shooting a teaser or something, to promote it in advance?"

Cao Yang thought for a moment and said, "This kind of movie is an extremely serious subject. If we hype it up, it will easily be criticized. How about this, let's shoot a short film about how to take shelter and save ourselves during an earthquake first, and see the reaction. It can also be considered a warm-up for the movie."

Little Cannon thought about it and thought it was a good idea, so he slapped his thigh and said, "Let's do it!"

Just do it.

Of course, if such a short film were made by ordinary people, it would become a typical "propaganda" film, and it certainly wouldn't attract any discussion or attention.

To become a "hot topic," you have to hire big stars.

Cao Yang plans to cast Gao Yuanyuan as Fang Deng, who is also the character Wang Deng.

Gao Yuanyuan is about the same age as the original actress Zhang Jingchu, but she is much more famous. She is a Cannes Film Festival Best Actress and the highest-paid female celebrity in China, which Zhang Jingchu cannot compare to.

If Xu Fan is willing, he can give the role of Li Yuanni back to her.

The role of Fang Deng's younger brother, Fang Da, was played by Deng Chao. After "Assembly", he became quite famous and his acting skills were also very good.

Cao Yang chose Duan Yihong to save Fang Daqiang, the father who died in the line of duty for him and his sister.

Fang Deng's adoptive father, Wang Deqing, still used the name Chen Daoming.

This creates an all-star lineup, and having these people participate in the filming of the "pilot" film is quite appealing.

The content of this short film is not actually that "formal". It is just that an earthquake suddenly occurs, and five people, Gao Yuanyuan, Xu Fan, Deng Chao, Duan Yihong and Chen Daoming, use five different methods of escape and avoidance.

Then, after they adopted this method, they very "formally" explained to the camera the effects and precautions of using this method.

Cao Yang wasn't afraid that being a big star wasn't enough; he also resorted to some ingenious tricks.

For example, when Gao Yuanyuan and Xu Fan were escaping, Gao Yuanyuan was dressed in a long-sleeved and long-legged pajama that accentuated her figure, while Xu Fan was dressed in a camisole pajama.

Little Cannon did not object.

This short film was very easy to shoot; all you had to do was use camera shake to simulate an earthquake, and the rest was just running away, taking cover, and explaining.

So it only took a week to film and edit.

Little Cannon felt a toothache looking at the whole thing. He turned to look at Cao Yang and asked cautiously, "Old Cao, isn't this... a bit too informal? It's like we're just joking around."

Cao Yang thought it was pretty good. He had consulted experts in the relevant fields about the first aid and evasive techniques, and he was confident that they would stand the test of time.

As for the short film, it's like a joke... that's all it can do.

The key is to ignore whether it's a joke or not. As long as people watch it, remember it, and learn some common sense, that's the best short film.

"For a film with such a serious subject matter, this is the only way to promote it, otherwise it's easy to provoke public anger."

Cao Yang used the same old excuse.

Although Xiao Gangpao was somewhat skeptical of Cao Yang's explanation, he understood it when he thought about Cao Yang's official status.

Since Cao Yang is unavailable, I'll take care of "making things happen" for him.

"Old Cao, look, if we want to release this short film, we'll need funding, right? How much are you planning to invest?"

The little cannon needs more so that it can "operate" better.

"How much do you think is appropriate?" Cao Yang asked.

Little Cannon thought for a moment and realized that if he wanted to create some "waves," he needed a lot of money.

So he tentatively held up three fingers, as if to say, "How about three million?"
Don't think that three million is a small amount. This is just the initial promotional trailer, not the total marketing budget. In this day and age, even if the total marketing budget were three million, it would still be a huge sum of money.

Let alone in this era, even in 2025, the total publicity and distribution budget for Chen Peisi's "The Stage" would only be 400 million.

Cao Yang frowned. What good is three million? If you want to attract attention, you still need to spend a lot of money.

Of course, the real purpose must not be known to anyone; let Little Cannon think it's for movie promotion.

Little Cannon realized he was asking for too much and was about to change his mind and ask for one million, but Cao Yang spoke up instead.

"Old Feng, 30 million for advertising is a bit too much. This is just the initial advertising budget, we definitely won't need that much."

Cao Yang waved his hand and deliberately said, "I understand what you mean. You want to start with something big to attract the attention of the whole country. However, 30 million is definitely impossible."

Okay, let's set the maximum advertising budget at 1000 million, no more. What do you think?

"what?"

Little Cannon, with a cigarette between his fingers, was momentarily stunned.

However, he quickly realized what was happening, stubbed out the cigarette he had only taken two puffs of, and hurriedly suppressed his inner elation, pretending to be serious as he said:

"Ten million, sigh, ten million... that's a bit low, um, it is a bit low... I, I can't guarantee that this promotional video will be seen by everyone in the country..."

At this point, perhaps fearing that Cao Yang might change his mind, he quickly added, "However, I will do my best to ensure that at least most people see this short film."

For the past week or so, Cao Yang has been busy with the earthquake short film and hasn't paid much attention to box office information.

Now that the short film is finished and has been handed over to Xiao Gangpao for "operation," he has some free time and has finally had time to keep an eye on box office information.

"Love in the Seaside City" has been released for twelve days and has grossed 1.4 million yuan. Judging from the box office trend, even without the extension, it will definitely exceed 2 million yuan.

As for the biggest competitors previously mentioned by the media, such as "Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon" and "The Children of Huang Shi," it can only be said that they are no longer competitors at all.

Both movies have been in theaters for ten days now. "Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon" had a pretty good first day at the box office, at least over 1000 million.

Unfortunately, this epic film, which was promoted before its release as being entirely based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, is now being relentlessly criticized online.

In terms of box office, only a few days ago, some uninformed viewers were attracted by the Three Kingdoms theme and big stars; the rest of the time, the word-of-mouth has seriously affected the box office.

The box office trend in the past few days has been like a roller coaster, plummeting from its lowest point.

The relevant organizations also revised their box office forecasts again and again, from the initial 2.5 million to 1.6 million, then to 1 million, and finally to 8000 million.

It remains to be seen whether it can maintain the predicted box office of 8000 million.

This piqued Cao Yang's interest. In his previous life, he hadn't watched the movie because of the numerous negative reviews. Now, he wanted to see if it was as bad as the netizens were complaining about.

Released on the same day as "Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon," "The Children of Huang Shi," starring Chow Yun-fat, performed even worse at the box office. In ten days, it had not even grossed 800 million, which was a complete flop compared to its $4000 million investment.

As for Wang Xiaoshuai's "Left Right," which was released on the same day as Cao Yang's "Love in the Seaside City," well, let's not even mention it.

This film, which won Best Screenplay at the Berlin Film Festival, sold its European distribution rights for millions, but its box office performance in China was truly appalling.

With daily box office earnings of tens or hundreds of thousands, the film was only in theaters for less than a week before cinemas moved its screening times to times when fewer people watched it.

You can't really blame the cinemas. Nowadays, many cinemas are joint ventures or private enterprises, and they need to make money. If your movies don't make money, they will definitely have to make adjustments.

(End of this chapter)