Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 341 Hot
Zhao Wenzhuo smiled and said, "I'm not afraid! What's there to be afraid of?"

The host was surprised, "Really? You're not afraid? Why? Don't you love her?"

Xu Ke looked at Zhao Wenzhuo with curiosity.

Zhao Wenzhuo: "Because I don't have a lover yet! Why should I be afraid of something I don't have?"

"Puch..."

The host burst out laughing.

Even the usually stern Xu Ke chuckled slightly upon hearing this.

……

As the main cast and crew, including Tsui Hark and Zhao Wenzhuo, launched their second round of promotions in mainland China and Hong Kong, the box office of "Ong-Bak" began to climb steadily in these regions.

Within a few days, its box office performance in mainland China climbed to second place among films released during the same period, second only to "A World Without Thieves," which has recently been the most popular film at the box office.

Yes, as soon as "A World Without Thieves" was released, it immediately topped the daily box office charts and held the top spot for more than a week.

As it turns out, Feng Xiaogang is the king of mainland Chinese films at the box office these days.

It's not necessarily because he's too strong.

There were simply too few truly capable directors from mainland China during that period.

There are very few directors who can make commercial films.

Almost all of them are directors who come from art films backgrounds.

These directors used to make films in state-owned film studios, where they didn't need to worry about box office revenue; when making films, they only needed to focus on expressing what they wanted to express.

Just like the lyrics of Dao Lang's song: "That night I got drunk and held your hand, talking nonsense, only caring about the suppressed thoughts in my heart, expressing myself wildly..."

When state-owned film studios reduced production, these directors entered the private sector and had to raise their own investments to make films. Because they had never proven themselves at the box office, they were destined not to attract much investment. Under these circumstances, they could not afford to make commercially successful films that required a lot of money, so they could only use their limited funds to make art films and then take these films to film festivals abroad, hoping to win awards overseas.

As long as you win an award, you can be hyped up by the media as an internationally renowned director when you return home, giving yourself a golden reputation.

After that, it will be easier to attract investment for making new films.

The bigger the prize a person wins, the larger the investment amount they can receive after returning to China.

For example, Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige both won major awards and returned to China.

Because of their major award, they were able to secure significantly more film investment than other directors, and gradually, they were able to make blockbusters.

However, even with ample funding, the films they made were not purely commercial; they always tried to balance commercial appeal with artistic merit.

In this environment, Feng Xiaogang's commercial comedy films have little competition at the box office.

Sure enough, the commercially driven film "A World Without Thieves" performed exceptionally well at the box office after its release.

Originally, "Ong-Bak," which was released a week earlier than "A World Without Thieves," was completely incomparable to "A World Without Thieves" in terms of box office performance.

It's far from perfect.

However, as news of Ong-Bak's box office success in the United States reached China, Ong-Bak's box office in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan began to rise steadily.

Some viewers who were not originally interested in kung fu movies were also drawn to the cinema.

A few days later, news reports indicated that the main creators, including Xu Ke and Zhao Wenzhuo, were invited to the United States for promotional activities and appeared in some American media.

This news spread domestically, further boosting the box office of "Ong-Bak".

For a time, Ong-Bak and Zhao Wenzhuo became the darlings of domestic news.

Various news headlines constantly appear before the public's eyes.

For example: "Ong-Bak is incredibly powerful and has become the highest-grossing Chinese-language action film of the year!"

"Zhao Wenzhuo, following in the footsteps of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li, is another international Chinese action superstar!"

"Ong-Bak's box office in mainland China was lower than A World Without Thieves, but its global box office was amazing!"

"Zhao Wenzhuo has finally turned the tables!"

"Zhao Wenzhuo—a classic example of someone who has accumulated knowledge and experience before achieving great things!"

"Following Jet Li, Zhao Wenzhuo becomes the second international action star from mainland China!"

……

Beijing.

Having already traveled all over the country for promotional activities, Feng Xiaogang arrived at Huayi headquarters that morning. As he flipped through the newspapers on his desk, his brows furrowed more and more as he saw the news headlines.

My mood is clearly not very good.

Indeed, his film "A World Without Thieves" is still the top-grossing film in mainland China on a single day, consistently surpassing "Ong-Bak". However, in the past few days, "Ong-Bak" has stolen the limelight from the domestic film industry. How could he possibly be in a good mood?

Moreover, he had publicly mocked "Ong-Bak" a few days ago, saying that Zhao Wenzhuo was not Andy Lau and lacked box office appeal.

And then... who would have thought that Ong-Bak, which was practically frozen in time, could actually come back to life? And actually turn the tide?

What frustrated him the most was that "Ong-Bak" was consistently outperformed by "A World Without Thieves" at the box office in mainland China, while it continued to climb in the United States, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea.

His film "A World Without Thieves" only managed to overshadow "Ong-Bak" in mainland China; in other regions, it was no match for "Ong-Bak".

Especially in the United States, "A World Without Thieves" never had the chance to be released there.

The cumulative box office of "Ong-Bak" in the United States is about to exceed 3000 million US dollars.

3000 million US dollars! How much is that in RMB?
Moreover, Ong-Bak will still be showing in the US for a while, and by the time it leaves theaters, its total box office in the US might exceed $4000 million.

Converted to RMB, that's around 300 million.

And what about "A World Without Thieves"? Can it break 100 million yuan at the mainland box office? Judging from the current momentum, it should be able to break 100 million, but can it break 200 million? 300 million? Is there any hope?

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Feng Xiaogang's expression was complex.

A while ago, "Ong-Bak" did poorly at the box office while "A World Without Thieves" did very well, which made him think uncontrollably: It's not that Zhongyuan Yidianhui's script is awesome, but that I am awesome!
Look! Both films have the same script, but the box office of "A World Without Thieves," directed by a Hong Kong director like Tsui Hark, is far less than that of my film. Doesn't that speak for itself?
He couldn't help but think: It's not that I can't live without Zhongyuan Yidianhui's scripts, but that Zhongyuan Yidianhui can't live without a director like me.

but now?
He frowned and pondered for a moment, then silently took out his phone and dialed Cao Sheng's number, hoping to build a good relationship with Cao Sheng and try to get another script from him.

To work on a co-production script like Ong-Bak.

He felt it was time for him to try his hand at action movies.

He used to have no choice. There were no good action movie scriptwriters in mainland China, and the screenwriters in Hong Kong and Taiwan who were good at writing such scripts all had better partners. Nobody wanted to work with him.

Now, with the emergence of a talent from the mainland, who writes action movie scripts even better than the experts in Hong Kong and Taiwan, he had the idea of ​​making action movies.

As for the question of whether he has never made an action movie and is not good at action movies, he believes that as long as he can get the script for Chung Yuen Yi Dian Hui, he will definitely be able to invite the best action choreography team in Hong Kong.

These thoughts flashed through his mind, making him feel a little excited.

There is an expectation that I will lead the way in mainland Chinese action films.

Over the years, although he has proven himself time and again at the box office in the mainland film industry, he has always been rejected by the mainstream film industry.

For example, major film awards in mainland China always like to invite him to make an appearance, but they don't like to present awards to him.

In the realm of art films, he lacks confidence that he can surpass Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, and others.

But now, he has seen a new track – mainland Chinese action films.

He felt he had the opportunity to become a master of action films in mainland China.

only……

The call was made, but no one answered.

This left him with a lot to say, unable to express it.

He originally intended to tell these words to Cao Sheng immediately.

He wanted to use these words to persuade Cao Sheng to join forces with him to develop the mainland action film market.

"He's not starting to write a novel so early in the morning, is he? This...this..."

He put down his phone and frowned as he muttered to himself.

He knew that Cao Sheng had a habit of silencing his phone when he wrote novels, but it was morning now, and based on his understanding of Cao Sheng, Cao Sheng didn't write anything in the morning.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his office door.

Feng Xiaogang looked up and said, "Come in!"

The office door was pushed open, and the person who opened the door was Wang Zhongjun's secretary. "Director Feng! Chairman Wang would like to invite you to his office. He has something to discuss with you."

Feng Xiaogang was a little surprised, but he still nodded, got up, and walked towards Wang Zhongjun's office.

A moment later, he arrived at Wang Zhongjun's office.

Wang Zhongjun smiled and gestured for him to sit down.

"Chairman Wang, what's the matter?"

After Feng Xiaogang sat down, he asked with a smile.

Wang Zhongjun: "Here's the thing, the company wants to cooperate with Cao Sheng long-term, but when we called him about it, he immediately refused, saying that he would focus his main energy on writing novels and had no interest in writing screenplays anymore. I think that's very insincere. You have a good relationship with him, so I'd like you to contact him and see what his conditions are. If he's reluctant to give up the Hollywood and Hong Kong and Taiwan film markets, we can also cooperate with him only on mainland films. That's all possible. What do you think? You can take charge of this matter?"

Feng Xiaogang was very surprised.

As I listened, my eyebrows rose.

After Wang Zhongjun finished speaking, he laughed and said, "What he said is completely untrue! How much money does he make in a year writing novels? How much did he earn last year writing screenplays? Hundreds of millions! The difference in income is so huge, unless he's lost his mind, how could he not want to write screenplays? Right?"

Wang Zhongjun nodded with a smile, "That makes sense! So, after our meeting, we all agreed that he doesn't want us to represent all his scripts. That's normal, considering how much he earns selling scripts to Hollywood and Hong Kong. Nobody would want to share such profits with others. So, when you contact him, could you clarify for us that as long as we have scripts suitable for mainland China, or scripts suitable for Hollywood and Hong Kong, he can handle the production himself, and we can help him with the production for free? Do you think that's acceptable?"

Feng Xiaogang nodded. "If we are really willing to help him get those scripts working for free, then the chances are pretty good."

Wang Zhongjun: "Then I'll have to trouble you with this."

Feng Xiaogang: "Okay! I'll do my best!"

……

For more than a week, countless people tried to contact Cao Sheng.

At first, Cao Sheng answered a few calls, but after seeing many similar calls, he simply stopped answering them altogether.

But almost everyone who wanted to contact him was incredibly resourceful.

When he didn't answer the phone, these people contacted him through other means.

Some called his former assistant Wang Jing; some called his current assistant Cui Xinyu; some contacted his teachers and classmates directly; and some even called his girlfriend Huang Qingya to ask him out for dinner or to discuss scripts with him.

And he has indeed lost interest in writing screenplays recently.

With "The Legend of the Primordial Era" already more than halfway finished, he has recently devoted most of his energy to preparing his new book, "The Legend of Chinese Martial Arts."

He has always considered writing online novels as his main profession.

I never thought I could go very far as a screenwriter.

Before his rebirth, his main profession was writing online novels, which was his forte. After his rebirth, he firmly believed that if he continued to write online novels, his achievements would be limitless.

But what about writing a screenplay?
There aren't many blockbuster movies he can remember that haven't been filmed yet.

After writing a few more scripts, he will run out of ideas.

It will be difficult to sustain.

But if he continues to write online novels, there are still many themes he can write about. Even if he finishes writing all the new themes he remembers, with his years of experience and insights in writing online novels, he can still write works of decent quality.

Moreover, he knew very well that the earning potential of online novels was no less than that of screenwriters. In just a few years, the annual income of top online novel authors would shock many people.

Earning over 100 million yuan a year is not an unattainable goal for top online novel authors.

The key point is that the golden age of online literature is about to arrive, and many of the top authors from the original timeline have already begun to enter the industry.

If Cao Sheng doesn't work hard to maintain his position in the industry during this critical period, he won't be able to get a piece of the pie when online writers' income skyrockets in a few years.

He doesn't think that if he slacks off now, he can still maintain his number one position in the industry a few years from now.

Because this industry updates and changes too quickly.

Every year, new masters rise to prominence, and every year, masters fade into obscurity.

For example, in the original timeline, when Xue Hong's annual income first broke through one million, he was at the height of his career, and most writers could only look up to him. Who could have predicted that his income would soon be surpassed by writers like San Shao and Xi Hong?

For example, when Tomato was at his peak, he sold the game rights for 50 million yuan as soon as his new book was published. Who could have imagined that a few years later, he would continue to decline?

For example, when Shenji was at his peak, he won the monthly vote for eight consecutive months. Other top authors gradually lost the will to compete with him. But how long did this peak last?

No one can stay at their peak forever.

Even as a reborn individual, Cao Sheng dared not claim that he could maintain his position as number one in the industry indefinitely.

He just wants to maintain this for a few more years, until the income of online writers skyrockets, and then become the first online writer to earn over 100 million yuan a year.

(End of this chapter)