Huayu: Starting from Fahrenheit

Chapter 408 New Album Songs

The gathering of numerous stars caused the popularity of the film "Ip Man" to explode.

On the day of the premiere, a large number of viewers went to the cinema to watch the movie.

When Wu Zhuo received the box office figures for the premiere that evening, he was stunned.

Released simultaneously in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, it grossed 2700 million yuan on its opening day.

In mainland China, it topped the box office charts with 1900 million yuan, breaking the record previously held by "Fleet of Time".

Meanwhile, the film received overwhelmingly positive reviews online after its opening day.

"Although Wu Zhuo is not a professional action actor, his performance in 'Ip Man' was very amazing."

The media's claim that he is the successor to Jackie Chan and Jet Li is absolutely correct.

This film, *Ip Man*, gave me the same feeling I had when I watched *Shaolin Temple* back then.

"Wu Zhuo is not only a singer and an actor, but also an action star."

The fighting style in "Ip Man" is completely different from that of Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

It lacks Jackie Chan's acrobatic comedic flair and Jet Li's dashing charm.

Wu Zhuo's fighting style is more in line with modern combat sports.

"This will be another masterpiece of action films, but unfortunately Wu Zhuo clearly doesn't want to be limited to the identity of an action actor."

He values ​​his identity as a singer more; if he could focus on action films, he could become the next Jackie Chan or Jet Li in no time.

A flood of positive reviews appeared online, directly boosting the box office figures for "Ip Man".

In its opening week, "Ip Man" raked in 1.4 million RMB at the box office, crushing all the Hollywood blockbusters released during the same summer season.

It's incredibly popular, extremely popular.

In just one week, discussions about "Ip Man" became the hottest topic across Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

Blogs and online forums are full of related discussions.

Meanwhile, after "Ip Man" achieved exceptionally impressive results in China, the overseas distributors that had previously been contacted for the film began to take action.

On the 13th, "Ip Man" was simultaneously introduced to South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand and began its theatrical run.

On the 15th, in North America, Warner Bros. acquired the North American rights to the film for $1300 million, allowing it to be released in North America.

In its opening week, the film grossed $900 million in North America, thanks to the hype surrounding Wu Zhuo's starring role.

There is no doubt that the movie "Ip Man" was a huge success.

The film was released during the summer season.

The film grossed a total of 3.7 million RMB across Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

And that's not all.

The film also grossed $880 million in South Korea and several other Asian countries where it was released.

The United States directly secured $3300 million.

To put it bluntly, if we exclude Jackie Chan's films, this movie is the most successful Chinese film in the international market in recent years.

"Ip Man" was a box office and critical success, and with the addition of overseas copyright fees, Oriental Film Company directly earned more than 2 million yuan in profit from the film.

Raymond Wong was overjoyed.

He simply waved his hand and gave Wu Zhuo a check for five million as a reward for the box office success.

Along with the five million check came a contract.

Oriental Film Company plans to develop Ip Man into a film series.

Raymond Wong offered Ng Cheuk a fee of 3500 million to continue playing the role of Ip Man.

However, because it was uncertain whether the audience would accept the second film and whether there would be a third film, Raymond Wong did not sign a contract with Ng Cheuk for several films at once.

They simply added a clause to the contract for the second part.

If a third installment is to be filmed, Wu Zhuo's salary cannot exceed 20% of that of the second installment.

A salary of 3500 million is actually a bit out of line for Wu Zhuo's current salary.

His salary has increased too quickly; some companies have even offered him 50 million.

However, because Wu Zhuo had reached an agreement with Raymond Wong that Legendary Pictures would also invest in "Ip Man 2," Wu Zhuo opted to compromise and continue joining the project for 3500 million. However, filming for the second installment won't begin until next year.

This is not entirely Wu Zhuo's request.

But Raymond Wong also had this idea.

The sequel cannot be too far removed from the first film, but it also cannot be too short.

The story of "Ip Man" is still gaining traction.

Especially those viewers who haven't seen it in theaters.

Give them a year to learn about this movie through video websites and DVDs.

If the second film doesn't receive a disastrous reception, its chances of success will be even higher when it's released.

By the time he signed the contract with Oriental Film Company to continue joining "Ip Man", it was already September.

At this time, Wu Zhuo had finished his concerts in mainland China and started an overseas tour.

His tours span from Asia to Europe and America.

One region ends, then another begins.

To be honest, from Wu Zhuo's perspective, as the tour went on for longer, he no longer had the same passion for it as at the beginning.

At first, he would be very excited to see tens of thousands of audience members and enjoy the scene of being applauded by the audience on stage.

But as time went on and he held more and more concerts, he gradually began to feel tired.

The passion in my heart has also diminished considerably.

Fortunately, each region is different, the local audience is different, and their ways of welcoming people are also different.

Wu Zhuo always manages to find something different to enjoy in it.

After September arrived, Wu Zhuo not only held concerts, but also began preparing for his next album.

The new album continues the format of the previous album.

A mix of Chinese, English, Korean, and Japanese.

There are the most stable songs, a total of four.

They are: "A Bridge of Fate", "Unfortunately, There Are No Ifs", "The Wind Rises", and "Clearly".

The English titles are "Maps" and "Someone You Loved".

In Korean, it's "(Boy!)" or "Eyes, Nose, Lips".

In Japanese, it's called "Eating Jealousy" or "Lemon".

All ten songs are well-known.

This will be Wu Zhuo's last album in this era of the decline of the traditional record industry and the rise of digital music.

After this album, Wu Zhuo will prioritize digital versions of all his future albums.

In fact, Wu Zhuo didn't really want to release a physical album for this one.

Unfortunately, the global record market has once again slumped this year.

Even Wu Zhuo himself was greatly affected.

From what we've learned, many fans are no longer buying physical albums, but instead choosing to listen to the songs directly online.

Wu Zhuo estimates that his album will sell millions or even tens of millions of copies after its release.

But this might be the last time.

Next year, it might not even sell for several million.

Rather than being told later that his peak has passed, he'd rather withdraw from the traditional market before it officially declines.

To be honest, there's nothing he can do about the market's decline.

This is driven by market factors and technological advancements; it's something that no single person or company can stop.

This is the general trend of history, an unstoppable tide.

All he can do is go with the flow.

(End of this chapter)