Huayu: Starting from Fahrenheit

Chapter 364 Breaking 200 Million in Eight Days

"Ah Zhuo, congratulations."

"Abel, are you available for next year? Our company has a big project, and if you're interested, we can work together."

"Hello Mr. Wu Zhuo, this is a pleasure to meet you. I am..."

The reason the production team chose to hold the celebration banquet on October 5th was not entirely due to the need for preparations.

Another reason is that, as expected, the film's box office revenue should officially enter the 200 million club by October 5th.

This is easy to calculate.

The National Day holiday runs from the 2nd to the 5th, making it more likely that audiences will go to the cinema.

Based on the box office figures for the first day, it is estimated that the box office revenue for the following days should not decline drastically, and it should be able to earn an average of 1 million per day.

And this is indeed the case.

Following the box office surge on National Day, "Painted Skin" saw another increase in box office revenue on October 2nd, continuing to hold the top spot on the daily box office chart with 10 million yuan.

The data started to decline on October 3, but still reached 10 million.

10 million on October 4th.

In this way, Painted Skin set a rare record.

The film grossed over 200 million yuan in just eight days, reaching 215 million yuan.

This achievement broke the domestic record for the fastest to reach 200 million.

It even finished its run faster than "Red Cliff," which just finished its run.

Because the data is trending so fast, the media is already declaring that "Painted Skin" will easily surpass 300 million yuan at the box office.

Many people even believe that this film has already secured its place as the top-grossing domestic film of the year.

Because it broke 200 million in just eight days, the "Painted Skin" crew was in the limelight at the celebration banquet on the 5th.

As Wu Zhuo walked through the hotel lobby, numerous film and television company owners, producers, and directors came up to greet him.

Many people want his availability.

This is not surprising.

The success of "Painted Skin" convinced people in the industry that Wu Zhuo was more than just a singer with a large fan base.

They also believe he can convert his huge fan base into moviegoers.

According to statistics from several well-known data analysis agencies.

Among the audience members who went to the cinema to watch "Painted Skin" at the moment, more than four out of ten people went to the cinema out of curiosity because Wu Zhuo was in the movie.

Based on this calculation, it means that Wu Zhuo alone accounted for at least 80 million of the 200 million box office revenue.

This is incredible.

It's worth noting that among current domestic actors, only Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Jay Chou can single-handedly account for 40% of a film's box office revenue.

Even Andy Lau is just a little bit short.

As a result, Wu Zhuo suddenly became a hot commodity for film producers, and many film and television companies wanted to work with him.

Among them are many major film studios.

Even Zuo Shandiao came over and chatted with Wu Zhuo for a few minutes.

They also revealed that China Film Group has a project to celebrate the founding of the People's Republic of China next year and wants to invite Wu Zhuo to play a role in it.

Upon hearing what Zuo Shandiao mentioned, Wu Zhuo immediately realized the importance of that project.

If nothing unexpected happens, it should be "The Founding of a Republic".

This film is a tribute to the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

It brought together a large number of mainland Chinese celebrities.

Although the cast is smaller than that of the second and third installments, it is still an undeniably large-scale production.

However, one point needs to be mentioned here.

The cast of "The Founding of a Republic" is mainly composed of mainland actors, with almost no Hong Kong or Taiwan actors joining the cast.

At this time, Zuo Shandiao invited Wu Zhuo, which made Wu Zhuo one of the few actors from Taiwan in this play.

Given Wu Zhuo's current popularity and fame, it's obvious that if he were to take on a role, he wouldn't be given a minor part; he would almost certainly be cast as a historically significant character.

Wu Zhuo accepted the invitation from Zuo Shandiao without much hesitation.

There's a saying, what's it again?

Don't refuse a toast only to suffer a penalty. The reason Zuo Shandiao invited Wu Zhuo now is, of course, because of his fame and box office appeal.

Secondly, a major reason is that Wu Zhuo has always been very active in participating in large-scale national events.

People thought Wu Zhuo was sensible and were willing to accept him.

If Wu Zhuo were to decline at this point...

It's perfectly fine to decline; Zuo Shandiao won't target Wu Zhuo because of it.

But if he declines this time, he will definitely not be considered for any future assignments.

Don't be fooled by the fact that it's a task with little reward.

In fact, not just anyone can take on this task.

So Wu Zhuo readily agreed to take the role and asked the production team to send him the script and the outline of the character he was to play so he could prepare.

"Are you really going to take this role? You should know that if you do, the people in Taiwan will definitely be unhappy with you."

As soon as Zuo Shandiao left, Chen Huiying, who had come to attend the celebration banquet and had been following Wu Zhuo around to expand his network, spoke hesitantly.

"So what if they're dissatisfied? They've always been dissatisfied with me, so a little more wouldn't matter."

Wu Zhuo shook his head.

He certainly knew that participating in this play might provoke some people.

But he doesn't care.

This is something he has to go through.

At worst, he can just go back to Taiwan less often in the future.

Hmm, I'll try to bring Grandma to our hometown in Fujian next year to avoid any unpleasant incidents.

Just as Zuo Shandiao left, Wang Zhonglei from Huayi Brothers came over.

"Mr. Wu, congratulations!"

Wang Zhonglei had a smile on his face.

You can tell he's very happy.

Wang Zhonglei was indeed very happy at this moment.

Before Painted Skin was released, he had quite a few reservations about collaborating with Legendary Pictures on "Fleet of Time".

They were afraid that Wu Zhuo wouldn't be able to drive the box office, causing the project to lose money.

Although an investment of several million is not a large sum, a loss of several million is something that even a large and established company like Huayi Brothers cannot withstand a few times.

Now that "Painted Skin" has been a success, his worries have immediately disappeared.

Moreover, the success of Painted Skin greatly guaranteed the box office success of Fleet of Time.

If things go well, this project could even be very profitable.

If he can make money, then Wu Zhuo is naturally the big boss.

So Wang Zhonglei, who was supposed to be working today, rushed over immediately after receiving the invitation to the celebration banquet for Painted Skin.

Sure enough, as soon as he came in, he came over to congratulate Wu Zhuo.

"Mr. Wang, you're too kind. It's all just good luck."

Wu Zhuo said modestly.

"This isn't just luck. There's a high chance this movie will break 300 million. If it does, your status in the domestic film industry will be completely different."

Wang Zhonglei raised his glass and clinked it against Wu Zhuo's.

"I think there is still a possibility of further cooperation between Huayi Brothers and Legendary Pictures."

We have the funds, you have the influence and considerable international recognition; I think we can further our cooperation.

"How to say?"

Wu Zhuo looked at him, as if he were very interested.

Of course, this is just the art of conversation.

Whether or not you're interested depends on the project itself and whether there's a profit margin.

If not, Wu Zhuo has plenty of ways to refuse.

(End of this chapter)