Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 722 of "Let the Bullets Fly" is going to be 'over-interpreted'!
"Director Chen is back in force!"

"This film, 'The Orphan of Zhao,' seems pretty good."

"It has to be good, Director Chen is really talented."

"After all, this is a director whose directing skills are second only to Zhang Yimou."

"I must support the movie when it's released!"

The offensive of "Sacrifice" has arrived. After all, this movie is directed by the great director Chen Kaige, and it also has a very strong cast.

It would be ridiculous if a movie like this didn't generate any discussion.

However, marketing and promotion are crucial these days, and online traffic is especially important. Therefore, movies now generally strive to collaborate with online companies.

In fact, this situation started a long time ago, for example, in films such as "Big Shot's Funeral" and "A World Without Thieves".

At the time, Huayi was quite ahead of its time, collaborating with several major internet companies.

Interestingly, Huayi was more powerful than these internet companies back then, so it can also be seen that these internet companies were affiliated with him.

Taobao, Tencent, and Sogou are all considered underlings.

As a result, within a few years, Huayi's glory days were over, while these internet companies became very powerful.

However, it's clear that a significant portion of the traffic generated by "The Orphan of Zhao" is generated by Le Shi and his team.

About this matter...

"Le Shi's methods have always been simple and brutal."

Ma Xun returned to the capital and went to his office in the Guangmang Building.

Looking at what's displayed on the screen, I couldn't help but utter this sentiment.

Wang Changtian couldn't help but laugh after hearing this, "Boss, they've always been like this over there, there's nothing to be afraid of."

Ma Xun couldn't help but remind them, "If you say that, then you're underestimating them."

"Yes! We shouldn't underestimate our enemy." Wang Changtian immediately became serious, and his face turned stern.

Ma Xun laughed and said, "There's no need for that. Actually, what I mean is very simple: just do our own thing well."

Yes, it was the marketing campaign for "Let the Bullets Fly".

But how do we do this?

"How is Jiang Wen doing?"

"They went to Chengdu first, boss, that's strange."

"Haha...what's so strange about that?"

"This... Chengdu doesn't seem to be a good market for movies."

"That's alright. Even if it's not a good market, we can still make it happen."

"Boss, you're so confident?"

"Have you forgotten who's in Chengdu?"

"Who...is this person from Chengdu?"

"It's okay, let Jiang Wen handle it himself. We'll just fan the flames for him."

Clearly, Wang Changdian couldn't answer the question Ma Xun asked about who was in Shu, but that's understandable, since most people wouldn't know the answer.

It's actually quite simple: "Let the Bullets Fly" is adapted from "Ten Tales of the Night," and the author of this book is Mr. Ma Shitu.

He's a veteran revolutionary. This book is called a novel, but in reality, many of the stories are adapted from real cases, especially this one called "Let the Bullets Fly," oh right, it's called "The Story of the Thief Official" in the book.

It should be said that there are significant differences between the original novel and the film. For example, the story takes place in the Sichuan region.

Back then, Mr. Ma was working in the local area to develop the masses, but there was a man named Master Huang in that area who oppressed the people and committed all sorts of evil deeds.

This novel, "The Tale of the Thief Official," is about how to get rid of this guy.

However, the story in the movie is set in a different place, in Lingnan, and the buildings featured are the very famous Kaiping Diaolou.

The characteristic of this watchtower, which many viewers of the movie should immediately understand, is that Huang Silang always looks down on others from his high vantage point.

Yes, the building is quite tall, and its style is very Western.

Please pay close attention, there are reasons for everything, and each characteristic has its own historical background.

Why do we need to build such tall buildings?
Because they had to guard against bandits... which were actually ordinary people!
But why is the building in a Western style?

It's very simple. These buildings were built by Chinese people who went to the United States or Southeast Asia in the early years. They made money there and built them after returning to China.

It must be emphasized that the Chinese who went to the United States and other places back then did indeed suffer a lot and risked their lives to make money.

That money was hard-earned, but many of them, after returning to their home country, became landlords, wealthy landowners, or capitalists. The process of this transformation... was truly bizarre and varied.

We can't go into details, and it can't be shown in a movie. Ma Xun has said many times that Jiang Wen is a Brechtian, and his films are meant to make people think and reflect.

So, this part doesn't need to be filmed; you can figure it out yourselves.

Our main task is to film the process of how Huang Silang fights, and that process is truly crucial.

Of course, Ma Xun can't say anything yet, because the time isn't right.

In fact, Ma Xun had a rather long-term plan for producing "Let the Bullets Fly".

Yes, to be precise, we need to extend the release period.

As for why they did this, well, those who understand this movie should know.

The truly remarkable thing about the film "Let the Bullets Fly" is its 'over-interpretation'!
Yes, over-interpreting is not a good thing, but in this movie, it's definitely a good thing.

Ma Xun plans to release the film during the Lunar New Year holiday season. Of course, this requires Han Sanping's approval, but he is confident in his decision.

Actually, it's not difficult for a movie to have a 60-day official theatrical run; many movies can achieve this, just like nowadays, a box office of over 100 million is enough.

Later, movies that grossed 500 million or 1 billion, and then 5 billion or 10 billion, could be shown for even longer.

If you calculate it that way, after sixty days in theaters, it'll be right around the Lunar New Year holiday season.

However, Ma Xun did not mention this, because he wanted the interpretation of the film's national context to develop slowly.

And now, Jiang Wen is also working hard on this movie.

……

Shu capital.

"Everyone! Let's be friends with Mr. Ma!"

Jiang Wen really did manage to invite Mr. Ma Shitu to the cinema to interact with movie fans.

I must say, the old man is in excellent spirits. He is a true revolutionary, and even though he is old now, he still has a vibrant energy.

As soon as the old man arrived, he mingled with the young people, and the scene was filled with laughter and joy.

Seriously, this old man is so talkative and eloquent; he's incredibly funny.

Jiang Wen was a little worried at first, but now that she sees it, it's great!

Hurry up and send over the recorded video!

That's right, this is the key element; this is how we made our marketing campaign.

Not long after, photos of Jiang Wen meeting with fans for "Let the Bullets Fly" appeared online.

It started on Douban.com and then spread to other websites like Weibo.

That's a funny comment.

"This old man is quite interesting."

"Oh, so it's an adaptation of this novel! I've read the comic book version before!"

Do you have any? Do you have any comic books?

Netizens quickly got into the conversation, and the discussion became very lively.

As such, Le Shi naturally noticed this as well.

"No, what are they doing?"

Jia Yueting dared to say that she had never seen such a movie promotion method before.

Zhang Zhao frowned. To be honest, this didn't seem like a movie promotion, but it was clearly one.

And when faced with the boss's questions...

"Don't worry, they won't be able to do anything!"

Zhang Zhao was very confident. After all, this method was novel, and even if netizens joined in, they might not necessarily go to see the movie.

Yes, this kind of advertising does have a problem.

In fact, Ma Xun was using a promotional tactic from the later short video era. At that time, many film and television dramas invested resources in these short video platforms to gain popularity among the general public.

But now... here comes our "Let the Bullets Fly"!
"Are we okay?"

"Boss! Trust Teacher Chen!"

Jia Yueting and Zhang Zhao were determined to give Ma Xun a good fight this time!
It's already late September, and the National Day holiday is just around the corner.

Most of the films scheduled for the National Day holiday are having preview screenings, and the first wave of word-of-mouth reviews is about to be generated!
(End of this chapter)