Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 428 Opening Weekend Box Office Records and Film School Students' Reactions (4K)

"Link, how about we predict how much our movie will gross domestically?"

Inside the van, Chen Chong smiled and handed over a cup of hot coffee.

"I hope to have 100 million."

The domestic film market is relatively small and box office performance is not high. Last year's box office champion was "Rush Hour" starring Chen Long, which earned 8500 million yuan in mainland China. In 95, the box office champion was "True Lies" starring Schwarzenegger, which earned 1.03 million yuan. In 94, it was the action film "The Fugitive" starring Harrison Ford.

Because of its involvement with feudal superstition and bloody violence, Lin Ke's films cannot be screened on a large scale in China. Films such as "Seven," "Final Destination," and "The Butterfly Effect" only grossed tens of millions of yuan at the box office. However, it is said that his films sold extremely well in the pirated DVD market.

If "Zheng Chenggong" can gross 1 million yuan at the box office in mainland cinemas, that would be considered a great success.

"If it's only 1 million yuan, wouldn't this movie lose money?"

Xu Qing smiled.

“It’s okay, the film can still be distributed overseas. With a production cost of over 30 million, even if it loses money, it won’t be much.”

Link shrugged nonchalantly.

Xu Qing looked at him with bright eyes, took his hand and put it in her arms to warm it.

The weather in China in February is indeed quite chilly.

After attending the film premiere, Link stopped going out and stayed in his apartment reading newspaper reviews and occasionally going to the gym or swimming with a few women.

On New Year's Eve, apart from Gong Li, Yu Feihong, Wang Yan, and a few others who were away from home all year round, Chen Chong, Chen Hong, and the other women decided to stay in the apartment to keep him company, put up couplets and lanterns, buy New Year's goods, and cook a sumptuous dinner.

Link felt the festive atmosphere of the New Year again after many years, and his heart was filled with emotion.

To reward them, Link also prepared New Year's gifts for them: two sets of LV luxury goods and jewelry, and three sets of Victoria's Secret lingerie for each person.

The women were delighted and, that evening, put on a rather amateur yet visually appealing lingerie show for him in the spacious living room of the apartment.

Fireworks filled the sky outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, but the view inside was just as stunning.
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After its release, "Zheng Chenggong" saw its box office revenue rise steadily from the second day onwards, thanks to its publicity and positive word-of-mouth.

During the three-day Lunar New Year holiday, the film grossed 3445 million yuan in 3612 cinemas, setting a new record for the highest-grossing opening weekend in mainland China and becoming the fastest film to surpass 3000 million yuan at the box office.

Because of its high production quality, positive content, and positive significance, "Zheng Chenggong" received support from relevant departments after its release. Many places gave the green light to the film and required theaters to cooperate with its release.

Starting from the fourth day, the number of cinemas showing "Zheng Chenggong" increased to 6413, including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

It grossed 85.8 million yuan in its opening week, becoming the fastest film in China to break the 80 million yuan mark.

The second place in the same period was "Once Upon a Time in China and America," starring Li Lianjie, which earned 1812 million yuan this week.

The remaining films performed only moderately at the box office, earning only a few hundred thousand yuan.

After the first week's box office results were released, many people called Link to congratulate him and wish "Zheng Chenggong" even greater box office success.

Lin Ke also congratulated his domestic counterparts on the phone, saying that the record-breaking box office of "Zheng Chenggong" not only represents the success of the film, but also shows that the domestic market has great potential.

It's not that people are unwilling to spend money to watch movies, but rather that they are unwilling to spend money to watch trashy films.

As long as filmmakers take making movies seriously and produce more interesting, meaningful, and sincere films, the domestic movie-watching audience will grow larger and the film market will become even bigger.

Southern Weekly, China Metropolitan Daily, Youth Daily and other media outlets have praised "Zheng Chenggong".

The film "Zheng Chenggong" is hailed as the first epic historical film produced by domestic producers, a classic work that surpasses Hollywood films in quality. It is suggested that domestic filmmakers learn from the "Zheng Chenggong" production team and draw on its successful experience to help domestic films catch up with Hollywood films as soon as possible.

Official media also arranged for reporters to interview renowned filmmakers such as director Zhang Da, director Chen Kaige, director Tian Zhuangzhuang, director Zhao Baogang, and Chen Long to hear their evaluations of "Zheng Chenggong".

In the interviews, they gave the film extremely high praise, showering it with compliments.

Many people give the movie 120 points, and the extra 20 points are because this movie has a special significance that other movies do not have.

During the screening of "Zheng Chenggong", Lin Ke was invited to participate in two television interview programs to answer some questions of public concern and to extend New Year's greetings to domestic audiences.

"Link is so handsome."

In a residential house in a hutong in Beijing, Mei Ting, an actress from the 96 class of the Central Academy of Drama, held a deck of cards in her hand. She turned around and looked at Lin Ke, who was wearing a casual suit on TV, and couldn't help but admire him. Suddenly, she remembered that several of her classmates were also there, and she couldn't help but feel her face burning.

"Being handsome isn't the point! The point is that this guy is a billionaire, worth hundreds of billions of US dollars. Do you know how much that is in RMB? More than 70 billion! My God, I can't even come up with 700 RMB right now."

Qin Hailu, a fellow student in the same major, munched on sunflower seeds and praised the performance.

"I don't think so. Last year, a financial magazine said that Link's net worth was over 60 billion US dollars, making him the third richest Chinese person."

Hu Jing blinked her big eyes and said.

"That's data from the beginning of last year. I've been learning English recently and reading English magazines and newspapers. They say that several of Link's companies are doing well, their stocks are soaring, and his net worth exceeds ten billion US dollars. Do you know Bill Gates' Microsoft? He's also a shareholder in that company. He's incredibly rich."

Qin Hailu spat out the sunflower seed shells.

“Link is only five or six years older than us, how can he be so amazing?”

Yuan Quan sighed.

"Yes, he's worth billions at 25, has made so many great movies, won almost every international film award, and most importantly, he's so handsome and has such a great physique."

"Hey! You guys are playing cards, can you concentrate a bit and stop talking about men?"

Liu Ye, a male student, tapped the table in dissatisfaction.

"You're the ones who invited us over to play cards, and now you're glued to the TV. That's not how things are done."

Qin Hao also looked at his hand full of high-value cards and expressed his dissatisfaction.

"Let's stop playing. Playing cards is boring. Let's listen to what Link has to say."

Mei Ting put down his cards and focused on watching TV.

"Playing cards is really boring."

Hu Jing, Qin Hailu, Zhang Ziyi, Yuan Quan, and others followed the card-throwing team to the TV, grabbed the remote, and turned up the volume.

Liu Ye and Qin Hao rolled their eyes in exasperation.

On the TV, Linke, Jiang Wen, and director Feng Xiaoning were discussing movies. Mei Ting, Hu Jing, and the others listened attentively, their eyes fixed on Linke.

"Have you seen 'Zheng Chenggong'? I watched it at home during the Chinese New Year."

Hu Jing asked.

"I watched it, twice."

"Me too. The first time I saw the promotional poster, I went to see it. The second time, my brother dragged me to see it, saying that it was a patriotic movie and we should watch it a couple more times to support it."

"The film 'Zheng Chenggong' is really well made. The cinematography, costumes, special effects, and dubbing are all of a very high standard. Compared to it, domestic films seem very crude and shoddy."

"You get what you pay for. The newspapers say that the production cost of 'Zheng Chenggong' was more than 5000 million US dollars, which is 3.5 million yuan. 3.5 million yuan! If I had that, I could become the richest woman in China."

"Isn't Link worried about losing money by spending so much on a movie?"

"He's worth billions of dollars, what's a little money loss? Besides, this movie is really good, the box office might even make it back." "I also heard that Link invested in this movie as a tribute to '97."

“I’ve heard that too. Link is a true patriot.”

"Link is not only good-looking, but also rich, talented and patriotic. He's too perfect. I wish he were my boyfriend."

"Haha, the little girl is thinking about men."

Several women were laughing and joking in front of the TV.

Liu Ye and Qin Hao couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted, "Sisters, have you guys gotten the facts straight? Although 'Zheng Chenggong' is good, the directors are Feng Xiaoning, Chen Kaige, and Tsui Hark, not Lin Ke. What's the point of praising Lin Ke?"

Liu Ye's words were met with fierce rebuttal from several girls, who said that Lin Ke was the screenwriter, editor, producer, and investor of "Zheng Chenggong," and was the backbone of the film.

The quality of this film depends entirely on him.

Director Feng and others had to follow his instructions, and if the filming wasn't good, Link would demand a reshoot.

It can be said that Link is the key to the success of this movie; without Link, there would be no movie.

"Was it wrong for us to praise Link?" Qin Hai rolled her eyes at him.

“That’s right. Link spent hundreds of millions to make this great movie, helping Chinese films grow. Shouldn’t we praise you instead of him?” Hu Jing said.

Liu Ye and Qin Hao were rendered speechless by the rebuttal.

"Okay, even if you're right, that Link is credited with this movie, isn't it a bit unrealistic to praise Link as a good man?"

Liu Ye pointed at Link on the TV and said, "Hong Kong media say he has over a hundred girlfriends, including Diana, Sandra Bullock, Jodie Foster, Jennifer Connelly, Brooke Shields, as well as Rosamund Kwan, Michelle Reis, Vivian Chow, and so on. There are also several female celebrities in the mainland entertainment industry who are his girlfriends. Can a womanizer like him be considered a good man?"

"The claim of having over a hundred girlfriends is definitely false. He films three movies a year and manages multiple companies. How could he possibly have time to date over a hundred girlfriends? This news is definitely fabricated by the American media. They see Link as too perfect and deliberately create fake news to ruin his reputation."

Mei Ting was the first to refute.

"I don't think it's true either. I would believe it if he said he had three or four girlfriends, but those media outlets say he has more than a hundred, every actress he has worked with, even women in their thirties and forties like Diana, Michelle Pfeiffer, Joan Chen, and Brigitte Lin. Haha, this kind of news is obviously fake."

Hu Jing also supports the view that Lin Ke is a good man.

"As the old saying goes, your appearance reflects your heart. Look closely at Link's face and demeanor. Do you think he looks like a lecher?"

Qin Hailu pointed at the TV screen and asked.

Mei Ting, Zhang Ziyi, Hu Jing and the others shook their heads repeatedly, saying it didn't look like it at all.

A lecherous man has dirty eyes and an unclean demeanor; you can smell the greasy odor of gutter oil from a distance.

Link was handsome, with an extraordinary appearance, a clean and pure temperament, and an air of authority. He didn't seem like a lecher at all.

Liu Ye and Qin Hao listened with a sense of helplessness. Although China has relatively strict control over foreign news, entertainment news is slightly more lenient.

People can learn about some things in the foreign entertainment industry through Southern media, such as Madonna, the "McDonald's sister", muscular men Schwarzenegger and Stallone, handsome men Tom Cruise, The Beatles, etc.

Through these channels, people have also learned about Link, including that he is worth more than six billion US dollars, is the third richest Chinese person, a famous director, and a well-known playboy. Since Link visited the mainland last year, people also know that he is a great philanthropist and a conscientious Chinese.

There have been numerous reports in foreign and Southern media outlets regarding Link's playboy reputation, listing many female celebrities he has been linked to and publishing photos of him with several actresses, from Monica to Diana, all of whom are beautiful and sexy.

These news reports were clearly published in the newspapers, but Mei Ting, Qin Hailu, and the other girls, because they admired Link so much, did not believe that the news was true and firmly believed that Link was a good man.

Liu Ye couldn't help but think of a phrase, "lust blinds reason," which perfectly described these women.

"Okay, even if you don't believe the news in the newspapers, what do you think of Zeng Li from our class?"

Liu Ye's question caused the girls present to fall silent.

Although they didn't see the news about actresses like Zeng Li being greeted at the airport in the newspapers because of the need for harmony, they clearly saw the changes in their classmate Zeng Li over the past six months.

Zeng Li was a classmate of everyone and a roommate of Zhang Ziyi and Yuan Quan. Because of her beauty, she was voted the school beauty and one of the "Six Golden Flowers" by busybodies from the beginning of the semester.

Because of her outstanding appearance and her good acting skills from practicing drama since childhood, she was signed by Dongfeng Film Industry just three weeks after the start of the school year, indirectly becoming an employee under Link.

If it were just a matter of signing with Dongfeng Pictures, they wouldn't think much of it.

But when Link came to China last September, Zeng Li took a week off under the pretext of having something to do. When she returned from her vacation, everyone was surprised to find that Zeng Li had changed a lot. She had become more mature, dressed more beautifully and fashionably, carried a small mobile phone, had many designer clothes in her wardrobe, and had several sets of exquisite jewelry in the small boxes in her drawers.

Before they could figure it out, Zeng Li moved out of the dormitory, saying she was renting a place outside, but rumors circulated that she owned an apartment within the Second Ring Road of Beijing.

When Lin Ke returned to China, Zeng Li accompanied Chen Chong to Dahai City again and attended the premiere of the movie "Zheng Chenggong".

In many news photos, she often appears not far from Link.

As women, Mei Ting and her friends are more sensitive to the changes in their peers. They keenly sense that the rumors might be true, and that Zeng Li and Lin Ke have an ambiguous relationship.

They had mixed feelings about this speculation. At first, they were somewhat disdainful, thinking that girls who did such things were immoral and depraved.

But considering that the person she fell for was Link, a billionaire, a world-class director, one of the giants of the film industry, and a great philanthropist.

Furthermore, Link is handsome, tall and slender, with a mature and steady demeanor, a hundred times better than those self-proclaimed school heartthrobs.

Furthermore, if the jewelry in Zeng Li's closet and the property outside were gifts from Link, it would also show that Link is a very generous man who takes good care of women and is not the kind of bad man who plays with emotions and bodies.

Mei Ting and the others weren't sure if they could bring themselves to refuse a man like that if they encountered him.

So when they heard about Zeng Li, they had mixed feelings: a little bit of disdain, a little bit of envy and jealousy, and a little bit of inexplicable anticipation.

"hehe!"

Seeing the girls fall silent, Liu Ye smiled smugly, "Do you still think Link is a good man now?"

Qin Hai rolled her eyes at him. "What do you care what we think? You're a grown man who doesn't do anything productive all day but gossip behind people's backs. Are you proud of doing that?"

"I didn't! I only mentioned Zeng Li to try and persuade you to be more realistic and not to misjudge her," Liu Ye retorted.

"Shut up! Watch TV quietly."

Qin Hailu and the others ignored him and stared intently at Link on the TV.

Liu Ye wanted to say something more, but Qin Hao tugged at his sleeve, telling him to save his breath. These women knew exactly who Lin Ke was; they didn't need him to remind them.

Liu Ye felt very disappointed. Zeng Li had fallen into depravity because she couldn't resist the temptation of money. Mei Ting and the others didn't care about Lin Ke's stain because he was rich. Is money really that important?
He suddenly realized that there was a sad, thick barrier between him and the girls in his class.

On television, Lin Ke was still being interviewed by host Yang Lanlan. He talked about some things related to the movie "Zheng Chenggong", including the reasons for writing the script, the considerations for appointing a director, and issues such as film investment and returns.

"Sigh, I used to think that the difference between me and Link was mainly in talent, but now I realize that what I lack more is vision, knowledge, and a global perspective."

In his office, Director Zhang watched television and sighed.

Director Gu, Director Feng, and others nodded silently. Lin Ke was a billionaire, standing at the highest level of the film industry. His vision far surpassed that of ordinary directors, something they couldn't compare to.

What they can do now is follow the path opened up by Link, keep exploring and moving forward, and believe that one day they will also succeed, and Chinese films will also be more successful.

(End of this chapter)