Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 492 Records are meant to be broken.

"Director Cao Yang's film 'Like Father, Like Son' was officially released in the early hours of June 21. This midnight screening was held in 6 cities across the country, and according to statistics, it grossed 853 million yuan, setting a new record for midnight screenings."

"Like Father, Like Son" won the Golden Bear at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival and is the film that helped director Cao Yang complete the final piece of the puzzle for winning all three major European film awards.

With his Golden Bear win for "Like Father, Like Son", director Cao Yang became the fourth director in history to achieve the European triple crown of awards, and is also the only living director among the four who have achieved this feat.

"Like Father, Like Son" holds special significance for director Cao Yang, and it also has extraordinary significance for Chinese cinema.

Before "Like Father, Like Son" set a new midnight screening record, the record was held by "Love in the Seaside City," also directed by Cao Yang, which was released last year and had a box office of 630 million yuan.

Prior to this, the record for midnight screenings was held by "Nine-Tailed Fox," directed by Cao Yang, which grossed 220 million yuan.

Before "Nine-Tailed Fox," there was Zhang Yimou's "House of Flying Daggers," which grossed 170 million yuan at midnight screenings.

Earlier, however, it was director Zhang Yimou's "Hero" that brought midnight screenings into the public eye. "Hero" grossed 80 yuan in its midnight screenings, which shocked the entire film industry at the time. No one expected that a midnight screening could achieve such a high box office.

Now, director Cao Yang has raised this record to 853 million. In less than 7 years, the midnight screening box office has increased more than 10 times, once again shocking the Chinese film industry.

So far, in June, the opening month of the summer movie season, the midnight screenings of "Like Father, Like Son" have surpassed the total box office of all Chinese-language films released in June...

Perhaps, "Like Father, Like Son" is the film that will officially kick off the summer movie season. Let's wait and see...

After reading the newspaper that he had specially asked his assistant to buy, Zhang Yimou didn't say anything and handed it to the photographer Zhao Xiaoding next to him.

On June 9th, Zhang Yimou's new film, adapted from the Coen brothers' "Blood Simple," officially began filming at the Danxia Geological Park in Longyou Province.

This is his first time directing a film since directing the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics.

The photographer is Zhao Xiaoding, with whom I have been collaborating since 2000.

Zhao Xiaoding is also a graduate of Beijing Film Academy. He was in the photography department of Beijing Film Academy in 85. After graduation, he worked in the advertising industry and shot advertisements for many famous brands.

Brands like "Coca-Cola", "Volkswagen", "Toyota", "Citroën", "China Merchants Bank", "Lenovo", "Armani Perfume", "Pantene Shampoo", and "Panasonic" are among them.

He is very successful in the advertising industry.

In 2000, he was invited to collaborate with Zhang Yimou on the promotional film for Beijing's bid to host the Olympics, "New Beijing, New Olympics," marking his first collaboration with Zhang Yimou.

He then became Zhang Yimou's go-to cinematographer, collaborating on films such as "Hero," "House of Flying Daggers," "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles," and "Curse of the Golden Flower."

It can be said that he has participated in all of Zhang Yimou's films since his transition from "Hero," and Zhang Yimou trusts him very much.

"Another record broken?"

Zhao Xiaoding was taken aback. It hadn't been that long; last year they had set a new record for midnight screenings. He had thought that 630 million would remain for several years.

He glanced at Zhang Yimou.

Before "Hero" pioneered large-scale midnight screenings, midnight screenings were a niche event, concentrated in core cinemas in first-tier cities, accounting for a negligible percentage of box office revenue. It could even be said that the name of the event outweighed its form, and the box office revenue was almost negligible.

"Hero" is a dividing line, or it can be said that the concept of midnight screenings only came about because of "Hero".

Therefore, for midnight screenings, "Hero" is an unavoidable film.

In recent years, Cao Yang has repeatedly broken midnight screening records and boosted box office to an extremely high level. Zhao Xiaoding knew that Zhang Yimou would definitely not be as calm as he appeared on the surface.

"His movie is going to break the record for Chinese art films, and it might even break the record for Chinese films at the box office."

With his head down, Zhang Yimou said these words.

Zhao Xiaoding couldn't see Zhang Yimou's expression, nor did he know what Zhang Yimou was thinking, but Zhang Yimou's words surprised him greatly.

"Breaking the Chinese box office record? No way! This is just an art film."

"Joker is also an art film."

The old strategist said in a low voice.

Zhao Xiaoding opened her mouth, wanting to refute.

I want to say that *Joker* is different. *Joker* is a Hollywood film; it resonated with the current economic crisis, creating emotional resonance and identification among the audience. *Joker* is special…

But Zhao Xiaoding immediately realized that "Like Father, Like Son" was also special.

For China, "Like Father, Like Son" is even more unique than "Joker".

This film not only produced a world-class film master in China, but more importantly, the word "alive" carries immense significance.

As a result, regardless of the film's content, "Like Father, Like Son" will be elevated to an extremely special historical status, and may even be considered a unique "classic".

This is the reality of our country.

Didn't you see that even the CCTV Evening News personally promoted the release of "Like Father, Like Son"?

Based on this alone, which Chinese film can achieve this?
Suddenly, Zhao Xiaoding had a thought and whispered, "You're only missing the Cannes Palme d'Or now, why not give it a try? What if you succeed?"

Zhang Yimou suddenly raised his head and stared into the distance, expressionless, for half a minute. Just when Zhao Xiaoding thought Zhang Yimou wouldn't say anything, he lowered his head and spoke:

"It's absolutely impossible now."

With the other three directors who won the European Grand Slam of three major awards all deceased, how could Europe possibly allow China to have two "living" Grand Slam winners?
Zhang Yimou is certain that if Cao Yang hadn't been so successful and influential in Hollywood, and hadn't continued making movies there, Europe would never have allowed a Chinese person to win a Grand Slam!

He knew all too well what those Europeans were like.

With Cao Yang already having achieved a Grand Slam and becoming the only living Grand Slam director in the world, Zhang Yimou was well aware of this.

Even if they were to go to extremes, even if they switched internationals and joined European or American clubs, they would absolutely not allow a Chinese person to win a Grand Slam.

Art knows no borders, but artists have nationalities and races.

Sigh, a triple gold medal grand slam.

Of course Zhang Yimou wanted it; which director wouldn't?
But even setting aside his Chinese identity, he knew it would be difficult for him to achieve a Grand Slam, because the last piece of the puzzle he was missing was the Cannes Palme d'Or.

As is well known, he had publicly criticized Cannes in the past and had a grudge against the organization.

How could Cannes possibly give him the Palme d'Or?

It's very difficult, very difficult, almost impossible. "Time's up, get ready, let's start filming."

Zhang Yimou stood up and said softly.

This movie features Xiao Shenyang, who is currently the most popular actor in China, as well as Ya Dan, who also became famous through the Spring Festival Gala. In addition, there are also very popular actors Sun Honglei and Yan Ni... Should we try showing it at midnight when it is released?
Zhang Yimou didn't intend to compete with Cao Yang; he just wanted to know if his first film after the Olympics could gross a few million at midnight screenings, given the boost from the Games.
"Well, I really didn't mean to compare."

The old strategist said to himself.

The record-breaking 853 million yuan at the midnight screening of "Like Father, Like Son" has garnered extensive coverage from domestic media.

Sister Hong is promoting the film in Shanghai with the crew.

When she learned about the box office results, her first reaction was surprise. She never expected that a movie she starred in could set a new record. Indeed, anything is possible when working with Cao Yang.

My second reaction was that I really wanted to call Lao Chen and I was especially curious about his reaction to the news.

Sister Hong knew that she didn't actually need to do this; it was a very perverse thing to do.

But she just couldn't help it.

After visiting a movie theater to promote her film, Sister Hong couldn't resist calling Old Chen during her break.

"What are you doing? I just finished a roadshow, I'm exhausted."

Sister Hong pretended to be very tired and said to Brother Chen Kai on the other end of the phone.

"I'm working on the script with Gao Xuan and Bao Ru."

Old Chen didn't say much, but his tone remained as serious and composed as ever.

Sister Hong frowned subconsciously. She knew Gao Xuan and Bao Ru; they were both graduates of the Literature Department of Beijing Film Academy and seemed to be classmates. The key point was that they were both women and very young.

After the release of "Mei Lanfang", Lao Chen attributed the failure of the awards and box office to the fact that he was restricted too much during the filming of "Mei Lanfang" and could not fully exert his abilities.

He hopes to tackle historical subjects that are more epic and complex in terms of human nature, believing that only such subjects will not limit his thinking and the content he wants to express.

After careful selection, he chose "The Great Revenge of the Orphan of Zhao" written by Ji Junxiang of the Yuan Dynasty.

He felt that the core of the Eastern tragedy of "sacrificing one's own child to save the orphan" was particularly moving. This was the kind of good story with a strong Eastern philosophy that he could freely adapt, and it was also a way of tracing the roots of the Chinese spirit.

Last year, Lao Chen began writing the script for "The Orphan of Zhao", but he was never satisfied with it.

Since January of this year, when we convened a closed-door script workshop with the screenwriting team in Beijing, we are still polishing the script.

Old Chen's writing team consists of Gao Xuan, Bao Ru, and Zhao Ningyu.

However, from what she just said, Sister Hong didn't hear Zhao Ningyu.

"Just the three of you?"

Sister-in-law Hong couldn't help but ask.

"Ah."

Old Chen neither denied nor explained anything, nor did he say anything of concern after hearing Sister Hong say that the roadshow was exhausting.

Even though Sister Hong knew that Old Chen was that kind of person, she still felt very uncomfortable.

After a moment of silence, Sister Hong suddenly smiled and said gently:
"Although this roadshow was tiring, Xiaoran and I were still very motivated. You and Gao Xuan and Baoru focused on polishing the script. You may not know that Cao Yang's 'Like Father, Like Son' set a new record for the midnight show."

853 million? Wow, that's beyond imagination. To achieve such a good result in a midnight show.

You have no idea how much pressure Xiaoran and I are under this time. After all, the last movie we starred in, which you directed, "Mei Lanfang," grossed nearly 15 million yuan on its opening day and over 100 million yuan in total.

Both of these are films starring the two of us, both are art films, and with the success of "Mei Lanfang" as a precedent, and as you know, "Like Father, Like Son" was nominated for the Berlin Film Festival along with "Mei Lanfang" last year... Xiaoran and I were the ones under the most pressure in the entire crew.

Sigh, these are the only things I can say to you. I'll never act in another Cao Yang film again. Audiences have such high expectations and demands for his films' awards and box office performance.

After saying all this, Sister Hong felt as if her state of mind had been elevated, and she couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth into a smile.

"Ah."

After a long while, Sister Hong heard Old Chen seem to grunt in response. Just when she thought Old Chen wouldn't talk to her anymore, he grunted again, saying in his characteristically serious and deep voice:

"You... don't overwork yourself, just leave it at that."

Sister Hong stared wide-eyed at the beeping sound coming from the phone, momentarily wondering if she had just hallucinated.

After I delivered a precise "blow" to him, Old Chen unexpectedly showed some concern for me.
"Hahaha……"

For a moment, Sister Hong didn't know how to express her feelings. She also didn't know if any of her words had touched a nerve with Old Chen.

Or perhaps men are just inherently fickle; the more you act like you don't care about him and the more you criticize him, the more he'll cherish you?

When Sister Hong first got together with Lao Chen, Lao Chen was already a famous director. She was very obedient to Lao Chen, and even though Lao Chen did some outrageous things, she turned a blind eye to it.

But what he got in return was not Old Chen's "turn back", but just "polite words".

Today, in a moment of impulse, Sister Hong didn't consider the consequences and just spewed out a lot of criticism. How did it end up like this?
I don’t understand!

On Monday morning, Cao Yang received the opening day box office figures for "Like Father, Like Son" from President Han.

Because it was released on a Sunday, "Like Father, Like Son" did quite well at the box office on its opening day, earning a little over 2900 million.

This box office is higher than the Sunday box office of "Assembly," directed by Xiao Gangpao, but slightly lower than the Saturday box office of "Assembly."

In other words, judging solely from the box office of 2900 million, "Like Father, Like Son" did not break the record for the highest single-day box office for a Chinese-language film.

The film "Assembly," a collaboration between Xiao Gangpao and Cao Yang, achieved a single-day box office record of nearly 3400 million yuan, which is also the highest single-day box office record for a Chinese-language film.

However, the 2900 million box office for "Like Father, Like Son" does not include the midnight screenings.

The midnight screenings are on Sundays and should be included in Sunday's box office revenue.

Therefore, "Like Father, Like Son" actually grossed 3753 million yuan on its opening day, successfully breaking the box office record for Chinese-language films set by "Assembly" and becoming the new record holder for Chinese-language films.

(End of this chapter)