Became the best actor, the system just finished loading

Chapter 406 Once Upon a Time There Was a Taoist Priest
The box office surpassed 100 million yuan on the third day.

Box office revenue continued to rise on the fourth and fifth days.

On the sixth day, Friday the 23rd, the box office jumped from 5300 million the previous day to over 8000 million.

This is a very significant leap forward.

The previous record holder for daily box office was Avatar, whose highest daily box office was 6000 million.

Although that data is from two years ago, a breakthrough is a breakthrough.

This is very beneficial for film promotion.

Moreover, it's almost the weekend, and everyone can see that a movie that breaks the record for single-day box office of over 100 million yuan is about to be born.

It has to be Zhonghao Entertainment!
The theater chains continued to increase the number of screenings for this film.

The combined screenings of "Dragon Gate" and "Nanjing" have been squeezed to less than 30%, while "Lost in Thailand 2" has been increased to 58%.

Zhang Weiping lashed out at cinemas on Weibo for their heartless disregard for cinema chains.

Others have also spoken out in defense of patriotic films like "The Flowers of War".

Should box office revenue really be the sole criterion for judgment?
As a cinema chain, should it give some preference to patriotic films?

This made Zhonghao Entertainment a little embarrassed.

However, it's impossible to give up the screening slots, because although the film producers can fight for more screenings, the final decision on how many screenings to allocate is still made by the individual cinema chains themselves.

Furthermore, while the patriotic films Zhang Weiping mentioned may indeed be objective facts, both their promotion and the films themselves are rife with commercialism, making it difficult to feel any more affection for them.

Zhang Yimou's film is said to be based on a true story, but the plot is exaggerated to an excessive degree.

Since you're making a film about Nanjing, and since you say it's based on true events, you should retain some details that allow people to verify them, because this is a painful yet true period of history.

If everything you say is fake, it's easy for people to extrapolate that the Holocaust was also fake.

What's even more unacceptable, or rather, extremely uncomfortable, is that the film uses overly erotic visuals to satisfy Westerners' fantasies about Chinese women.

With "Jinling" being released simultaneously in China and the US, and featuring international stars like Christian Bale, Zhang Yimou and Zhang Zhaolin naturally hoped to gain a share in the US film market and also make a run for the Oscars, which could bring them both fame and fortune.

Therefore, the audience of the film is crucial to the film.

To cater to the demands of American audiences, the film's English title is "The Flower of War," clearly indicating its intention to attract attention by featuring beautiful Chinese women.

When fleeing from disaster, a woman's most basic common sense should be to conceal her beauty. Wearing tattered clothes and smearing mud on her face are all reasonable methods.

In this movie, the Thirteen Beauties, dressed in the most beautiful cheongsams and with makeup on, arrive at the church laughing and joking. Inside the church, they seize every opportunity to pose provocatively and partially expose their breasts, which is completely inappropriate and unrealistic.

The most absurd scene was when, after they changed into simple school uniforms, they decided to show their younger sisters the glamour of the famous courtesans of the Qinhuai River: they lined up in a row and sang flirtatious songs with their clients, while the camera quickly switched to showing them wearing cheongsams and flirting while singing.

This is a typical example of sacrificing the authenticity of details for visual appeal, and at the cost of eroticizing Chinese women.

If Lu Chuan made "Jinling Jinling" to pander to Japan...

So, saying that Zhang Yimou's filming of "The Flowers of War" was an attempt to curry favor with the United States is a bit of an overstatement, but this old man's values ​​are really not in line with the general public.

He's become somewhat obsessed with pursuing so-called commercialization and internationalization.

Despite being a leading figure in the cultural field, Lao Zhang lacks any confidence in his own national culture. He is either pandering to Hollywood or on his way to pandering to Hollywood.

Ambitious filmmakers hope to achieve cultural export.

Old Zhang, on the other hand, transformed himself, transforming himself into the image of Hollywood, to help Hollywood accelerate its importation.

Of course, rumors circulate that Zhang Yimou was forced into it.

Some witnesses saw him and Zhang Weiping have a fierce argument during filming, and their relationship remained tense after the film was released.

But most people don't believe he was forced into it.

Many people of their generation firmly believed that only the moon in foreign countries was rounder.

Even though the domestic film market experienced a boom last year, demonstrating the enormous potential of the domestic market, they chose to turn a blind eye.

He was single-mindedly focused on gaining recognition from Hollywood.

"Dragon Gate" was more resigned to its fate.

Qi Hao is essentially shooting himself in the foot by using "Lost in Thailand 2" to beat "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate," which just goes to show that the movie is indeed bad and the audience doesn't like it.

The news that the film crew refused to allow the Taoist priest to perform rituals somehow got out, and some netizens joked about it from Xu Ke's perspective:
I wasted my time by not hiring a Taoist priest to perform a ritual!
Once, a Taoist priest walked up to me, but I didn't cherish him. It wasn't until the film flopped that I regretted it. If God gave me another chance, I would call that Taoist priest "Father!"

Actually, "Dragon Gate" is in a better position than "Nanjing". Firstly, its production cost was relatively low; secondly, it sold very well overseas, with its rights sold to dozens of countries.

Some, like those from the UK, even sold for millions of dollars.

There will definitely be a loss, but it won't be by much.

In terms of word-of-mouth, this film, which uses 3D as its selling point, did not receive the expected praise.

The special effects are indeed quite good, and they are gorgeous, but they don't feel quite satisfying in a martial arts film.

It's like scratching an itch through a boot; it lacks the cool, edgy feel of sword fights and flowing robes.

Viewers even felt that the action sequences in "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" were inferior to those in "New Dragon Gate Inn".

More money was spent, the special effects improved, but the quality regressed.

Why is it?

However, regardless of whether the movie is successful or not, the character of Yu Huatian was a success.

A highly-rated film review online begins by saying:
Xu Ke's "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" can only be considered half a good movie.

Two lines of dialogue are particularly memorable.

“I will kill those whom the Eastern Depot dares not kill, and I will manage those whom the Eastern Depot dares not manage. In short, I will manage what the Eastern Depot can manage, and I will manage even more what the Eastern Depot cannot manage.”

"A lone figure on a cold river, an old friend from the martial world, why should we need to have known each other before we meet?"

And the most successful one is the creation of the classic character Yu Huatian.

It could even be called the best of the year.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a classic villain in film history.

As the head of the Western Depot, Yu Huatian is highly skilled in martial arts and ruthless in his methods. His appearance is stunning, and his every move exudes both allure and domineering presence.

Many actors have played eunuchs, or many actors have played the role of eunuch, but Yu Huatian in this movie is absolutely unique.

Only after him did people realize that eunuchs could be like this.

Not everyone uses a fake voice to disgust others while also disgusting themselves.

The character design itself is excellent.

His martial arts skills are unmatched, and his appearance is that of Dongfang Bubai, elegant and noble, with a bewitching aura.

Unlike typical villains, his evil is somewhat restrained and ethereal, and even possesses a cold yet alluring sexiness.

His greatest weapons are his high intelligence and unique personal charm.

Qi Hao's performance also deserves credit.

He even played two roles in "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate".

The other character, Feng Lidao, is the complete opposite of the aloof Yu Huatian. He is an information broker who travels the world with just his words.

On the surface, he's a cowardly coward, but deep down he's cunning and scheming, always plotting his own schemes.

In addition, he is also a womanizer and a "scumbag".

Qi Hao completely mastered the roles of the two characters.

Take a look at the roles Qi Hao has played in the past two years.

First love senior, Mr. Tree, comedic relief, uncle, eunuch... What a leap and subversion! Qi Hao's acting skills are truly eye-opening.

When it comes to acting skills, Qi Hao definitely belongs to the top tier.

They are the top tier of all actors, not just the top tier of the younger generation.

He has already distanced himself from the younger generation of actors.

Of course, he still has a lot of room for improvement, and there are many more roles he can play.

As long as he, a billionaire boss, is willing to act.

There is no doubt about this.

From the moment he stepped out of his home at the age of fifteen or sixteen and headed north, it was already destined that he would spend his whole life on this road.

(End of this chapter)