Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 724 Finally Moved
When Li Qiutang returned to Yanjing after visiting his wife on set, "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings" had grossed over 3 million yuan in its opening weekend, setting a new record for the film's best opening weekend.

Meanwhile, "Hello Mr. Billionaire," which was released at the same time, grossed 9 million yuan.

"Hello Mr. Billionaire" is expected to take over the summer box office crown from "Dying to Survive" and continue to defend its position as the top-grossing film in the fall, while also demonstrating the high quality of Happy Twist comedies.

"Hello Mr. Billionaire" was released three weeks after "Dying to Survive". "Dying to Survive" had already grossed over 3 billion yuan at the box office, reaching the upper limit of predictions on various platforms. The timing of "Hello Mr. Billionaire" taking over was excellent.

And don't forget, two weeks later, another Sino-US co-production, "The Meg," will be released in the fall.

This summer's box office champion is destined to be Autumn Pictures.

Why is Qiutian able to maintain its leading position in the domestic market? Why is it able to produce so many films and make so much money? What is the unique aspect of Qiutian's business model?

These issues have been thoroughly studied by the industry.

Everyone knows what autumn is all about, but no one follows the patterns of autumn.

Everyone knows that we should support new directors.

There are at least seventeen or twenty similar newcomer support programs in the industry, all initiated by prominent figures in the field and supporting a number of newcomers each year. However, none of them are as successful as the "Tall Tree Project".

Autumn Pictures' success does not rely on a so-called business model. Autumn's business model is no different from other film and television companies. In the end, all we can say is that the people at Autumn Pictures are brilliant.

Li Qiutang, Zhang Zhao, Chen Zhixi, Xu Lin, and others.

The film and television industry has its own unique characteristics. The entire film and television industry chain, from top to bottom, relies heavily on individual creativity, aesthetics, and judgment.

The so-called business models are just amplifiers for these creators, not engines.

Many jobs in many industries can be done well by different people following certain procedures, but in the film and television industry, the results can be drastically different depending on who does the job.

The most typical examples are "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe" and "Mojin: The Lost Legend".

In that sense, the film and television industry is indeed quite amateurish, relying too heavily on talent.

In other industries, bosses can indeed tell outstanding employees that without the company platform, they are nothing.

However, in the film and television industry, the opposite is true: without outstanding creators, a company is just an empty shell.

This is also a major reason why many internet companies have suffered setbacks in their foray into film and television. They rushed in with money and the spirit of the internet, full of confidence, saying they would change and disrupt the industry. Now they are just honestly looking for people to write scripts and make films.

Ali Pictures was once so arrogant, but at this year's Shanghai International Film Festival, its chairman, Fan Luyuan, said, "Ali Pictures is just a worker in the Chinese film and television industry." They've been thoroughly subdued.

However, "Hello Mr. Billionaire" is not the most anticipated film in the second half of the summer season.

The most anticipated movie in August is the "iPartment" movie.

Don't overestimate the role of sentiment, but don't underestimate its charm either.

Despite the plagiarism allegations surrounding "iPartment," the IP itself is undeniably strong, and the upcoming movie adaptation has garnered immense popularity.

Pre-sales surged to 1.5 million.

One unusual thing about "iPartment" is that the production company refused to hold any kind of preview screenings or media screenings.

Logically, a film this popular, despite its IP advantage, should actively build its reputation. Even without a preview screening, it should invite some media outlets to see it and pay them some travel expenses to write articles about it.

But "iPartment" did nothing. Some media outlets even contacted the production company to request screenings, offering to write articles for free, but the production company refused.

The reason given was confidentiality.

Even at the previous summer movie release promotion event, "iPartment" was only presented in the form of a PPT presentation, and the actual movie was not shown.

"There are three possibilities: either they know the final product is of poor quality and are embarrassed to show it to the public; or it is indeed well-made and they are keeping it a secret until the end, when they will finally pull out their trump card; or they are playing a secret marketing game, whetting the audience's appetite, and then relying on the strong appeal of the IP to rake in the first weekend." Such secrecy is nothing more than these three points.

Even a blockbuster like Avatar invites audiences and media to preview the film and hear their opinions beforehand.

As for the film "The Meg" that her company was going to release, Li Qiutang was not worried at all, or rather, the whole company was not worried.

"Dying to Survive" and "Hello Mr. Billionaire" have already exceeded their summer box office targets. Co-productions like "The Meg" didn't take up much of the company's resources, so they can be pushed forward relatively easily.

With three movies released during the summer season, this was the most tiring summer vacation ever in autumn, but the bonuses given by the company were generous enough that no one complained.

"The premiere at the Water Cube a couple of days ago was a great idea." Li Qiutang brought back "The Meg" from Hollywood, but he did not attend the Water Cube premiere.

How's Bingbing doing?

"Which soldier?" my colleague asked with a laugh.

"I don't even know where Bingbing from 'The Meg' is now."

"There's nothing going on with Li Bingbing. She can continue with her activities and promotional work. There aren't many promotional events for co-productions to begin with, so there aren't many scheduled for her, and she's not tired."

A colleague then asked Li Qiutang about gossip: "Director, was Bingbing really replaced by Feng Xiaogang?"

"It's been changed." Li Qiutang knew.

"If it turns out that Feng Xiaogang is innocent in the end, then Fan Bingbing is finished, isn't she?"

"Then let's see what Fan Bingbing can do," Li Qiutang said with a smile. "Instead of worrying about Fan Bingbing, you should think about whether Feng Xiaogang can get through this safely."

The entertainment industry has been peaceful for a long time, and then experienced explosive growth in the last three to five years. Many people have become extremely arrogant. Even now, many people still think this is just an ordinary online flame war.

The tax authorities and banks issued a thorough investigation notice, but it's probably just for show.

Besides, that's Feng Xiaogang, a top director in Chinese cinema, a core figure in Beijing's entertainment circle. His connections, if not absolute, are certainly not weak. What could possibly happen to him?

After listening to the work arrangements for "The Meg," Li Qiutang was about to leave, but was called back:

"Director, Huang Bo invites you to the premiere of 'The Island'."

Li Qiutang thought for a moment and said, "He doesn't need any more people, and I have other things to do, so please cancel it for me."

Li Qiutang then immersed herself in the post-production of "The Wandering Earth" for the next few days. "The Wandering Earth" had ample funding and time, allowing for proper post-production work.

The resources that Li Qiutang could mobilize were incomparable to those of Guo Fan at the time. Guo Fan's "The Wandering Earth" still showed a relatively obvious CG feel in its special effects. Li Qiutang dared not say that he could do it perfectly, but he was confident that he could do it better than Guo Fan.

After working day and night for some time, Zhang Zhao brought back good news:

"Jia is willing to sell LeEco!"

(End of this chapter)