This actor has something

Chapter 493 The Era of Box Office Explosion Begins

On a December morning, frost and cold wind coexist.

He Daqi opened the door of the van, stepped onto the ground, and before he could even stand up straight and the breath he exhaled had fully risen into the air, he shivered. He straightened up, turned around, grabbed a down jacket from the van, and quickly put it on.

With his back hunched and neck shrunk, arms crossed, he jogged into the film crew's studio. People greeted him along the way, but He Daqi only responded with a few "uh-huhs" and "yeahs," showing no intention of stopping to chat for more.

He was actually late. At this moment, the guests of the second season of Infinite Challenge were all standing in front of the camera, trembling, with red eyes, just like He Daqi.

When they saw He Daqi arrive, their eyes were full of resentment. Being woken up so early in the morning on such a day, especially without washing up or putting on makeup, and all wearing pajamas with coats over them, it would be strange if they weren't resentful.

Not to mention that He Daqi was late!

Five minutes later, these guests might still be freezing and only able to complain a few times.

If they had been ten minutes late, the group of guests would probably have been cursing under their breath from the cold wind.

If it were half an hour later... this is the situation now, everyone wants to tear He Daqi to pieces.

"Hello everyone, I'm your host for today, He Daqi. Today is the last episode of Infinite Challenge Season 2. Everyone has worked hard for the past month or so, so today we'll have some simple tasks. This episode is a little treat..."

"You're waking us up so early to deliver freebies and expose us to the cold wind?" Sun Honglei shouted before He Daqi could finish speaking.

The others followed suit, their complaints directed at He Daqi, as if all their suffering was caused by him.

Actually, this calculation makes sense; it was indeed caused by He Daqi, since he was one of the main beneficiaries of the show's recording.

However, He Daqi was not aware of this. He happily started arguing with these people, insisting on getting to the bottom of things. He said he didn't want to take the blame for the production team and told them to vent their anger on the production team.

"Stop arguing with him. You're not cold, but I am. Let him finish assigning tasks so we can quickly find a warm place and at least go back to change our clothes!"

Huang Bo was quick-witted. Seeing a group of people arguing with each other in the cold wind after being amused by He Daqi, Huang Bo immediately realized that now was not the time to bicker.

After his reminder, the others realized what was happening and urged He Daqi to quickly assign tasks.

As soon as He Daqi finished explaining the task while still holding the teleprompter, the group of people slipped away quickly. Even the obedient Zhang Jiashuai didn't stay to say goodbye to He Daqi and rushed back to the hotel without saying a word.

"What time should I come back tonight?" He Daqi asked Yan Min as he turned around after the others had dispersed.

"At seven o'clock in the evening, after they finish their tasks, they come back to announce the rankings, and then at eight o'clock they have a dinner party as a wrap party, filming some scenes of the dinner party, and then this season will be over."

Yan Min hesitated slightly before telling him about today's arrangements.

Actually, this wasn't the original plan. When Yan Min first heard that He Daqi would appear in the final episode, she was so excited that she arranged a whole bunch of filming tasks for him, just waiting for him to come and record the show.

As a result, the temperature dropped sharply in the past few days. He Daqi was feeling lazy and had other things to do, so he called Yan Min in advance and asked her to rewrite the program script. He Daqi only planned to come over as a judge to announce the tasks and rankings, which would be considered as making an appearance.

As an international superstar and the boss, Yan Min didn't have much say when facing He Daqi. It was a pity that his carefully planned scheme from a few days ago couldn't withstand He Daqi's casual apology.

Now that I'm face to face with He Daqi, I want to seriously explain my ingenious ideas to him and see if I can get him to record a few more shots.

Yan Min hesitated for a moment before she could finish speaking, and saw He Daqi turn around and run back to the van without even saying hello.

Yan Min was left speechlessly with one hand outstretched, like a failed art student who hadn't had a chance to say anything to salvage the situation.

No wonder He Daqi came and went in such a hurry; he's really busy right now.

I promised Vivian Chow that I would revise the script significantly. The original script had a very weak storyline and was just a typical teen idol drama. It was filmable, but the final product would feel a bit cheap.

Besides the script, He Daqi also needs to spend one or two hours every day communicating with the staff in charge of concert setup at Ya Yue. He plans to perform more concerts next year. Although he has only released one new song, it will not stop He Daqi from holding a tour concert based on this new song and his previous old songs.

Xu Guangtou's "Lost in India" is finished and I need to check it out; I need to visit Ning Hao's film crew; there's also the premiere of Jiang Wen's "Let the Bullets Fly" and the premiere of Feng Xiaogang's "If You Are the One 2"; and so on. There are too many things to do. He Daqi is indeed very busy this December.

So even though Infinite Challenge has already had a successful season, it doesn't really rank among the top shows for Ho Tai-kei.

After appearing on the set of Infinite Challenge, He Daqi took a car to Asia-Pacific Music Festival. In the morning, he discussed the script with Lu Yang and the editors of Asia-Pacific Music Festival. In the afternoon, he exchanged ideas with the stage design team for the concert and then practiced dance steps for half a day.

In the evening, after a busy day, Master He met up with the Infinite Challenge guests at the hotel. He quickly announced that Tong Liya was the champion of this episode, chatted for a few more minutes to get some screen time, and then they all headed to the hotel's party hall.

The guests on Infinite Challenge were starving because they had been running around since lunchtime and didn't have the energy to linger. He Daqi was in a similar situation; he had practiced dance steps for half the afternoon and was also extremely hungry.

The group of people hurriedly showed off their food, which gave the Infinite Challenge production team plenty of material. After finally eating until they were half full, the group tacitly picked up their wine cups and slowly sipped their drinks.

"Brother Bo, Ning Hao is finally not going to make any more arrangements for you this time. Otherwise, you would have to go through all that trouble every time you wanted to fit the character in his movie. You can finally take a break."

"What rest? Although I'm not the lead this time, he's given me a major supporting role. After filming Infinite Challenge today, I'm flying to Bangkok tomorrow. The most ridiculous thing is that I can only come back for two days during the Chinese New Year next year, and then I have to continue filming there for another six months." Huang Bo clicked his tongue and complained in a melancholy tone.

He Daqi was taken aback and asked in surprise, "Ning Hao is going to film for so long?"

"Not only Ning Hao, he finished filming before the Spring Festival. The main reason is that just two days after the Spring Festival, Xu Guangtou wanted to film Lost in Thailand. He had already prepared the script. He said that if you hadn't strongly insisted that he film Lost in India, he would have filmed Lost in Thailand last year. This time, your uncle and I are the main actors, so the two films are back-to-back. It's only half a year."

Lost in Thailand? Weren't Bao Qiang and Huang Bo the leads? Why was He Bing replaced?

After thinking about it for a moment, He Daqi felt that something was going on. Could it be that Baoqiang and Xu Guangtou had a falling out when they were filming Lost in India? Otherwise, after Ning Hao finished filming Detective Chinatown, Xu Guangtou was filming Lost in Thailand, which would have been a perfect match with what Huang Bo said. Why didn't Xu Guangtou bring his acquaintance Wang Baoqiang to film it, but instead specifically asked He Bing to join the crew?

Surely they couldn't have invited him just because their own uncle became even more popular this year because of Infinite Challenge?
He Daqi shook his head, too lazy to think about it anymore. Let it be, he was too busy to bother with other people's business.

"Come on, you've worked hard these past few days, let's have a toast together." He Daqi stood up, raised his glass, and toasted everyone.

…… ……

2010 should be considered a particularly brilliant year for Feng Xiaogang, with two films released, one of which pushed the box office to 650 million yuan. If it weren't for the fact that Painted Skin's box office reached 800 million yuan through ticket subsidies, Feng Xiaogang might have had a chance to become the highest-grossing director in China.

Not to mention that he also has another film, If You Are the One 2, to be released at the end of December. It's a series film, and the box office is guaranteed.

Actually, Jiang Wen's "Let the Bullets Fly" had a chance to win first place at the beginning, but it just so happened that a few days after "Let the Bullets Fly" was released, Feng Xiaogang's "If You Are the One 2" was released.

The two movies' combined impact caused all the other films released at the same time to flop at the box office, except for those two.

From mid-December 2010 to early January 2011, the two films were locked in a fierce competition for more than three weeks. Let the Bullets Fly's box office soared to over 600 million yuan, while If You Are the One 2's box office soared to over 400 million yuan.

Just when everyone thought the two movies would continue to fight each other for supremacy, Zhang Yimou's Painted Skin 2 was released.

Following the release of Zhang Yimou's Painted Skin 2, Ya Yue immediately announced that He Daqi's new film, The Thieves, would be released during the Spring Festival.

Alright, everyone else, go wash up and go to bed...

In a short time, major film and television companies adjusted their release schedules. Those who originally wanted to wait for Jiang Wen and Feng Kuzi to finish their battle and clear out the market to take advantage of the empty slots were now cursing the most nasty things imaginable.

He Daqi is notorious for his lack of martial ethics. Putting aside the Yabo.com behind him, his current ability to dump tickets and provide subsidies makes him virtually untouchable.

It's funny, the happiest person right now is Han Shanping from China Film Group. Old Han feels like he hasn't done anything this year yet, and suddenly he might be able to complete half a year's worth of work.

The possibility is not low. Look, Jiang Wen's "Let the Bullets Fly" grossed over 600 million yuan, and Feng Xiaogang's "Aftershock" grossed over 600 million yuan. Now it's Zhang Yimou's turn to show his skills. If the box office of "Painted Skin 2" is low, it will be embarrassing. So even if it's just for the sake of reputation, Han Shanping estimates that Ya Yue will help Zhang Yimou boost the box office of "Painted Skin 2".

As for the Treasure-Hunting Alliance, Old Han is no longer worried.

After Ning Hao's remake, the plot is much better than before. In addition, He Daqi can't let the film's box office be low, otherwise it won't generate much buzz. So Han Shanping is living a very comfortable life right now.

It's great that Jiang Wen and Feng Xiaogang's films are doing so well at the box office! The timing couldn't be better!

Han Shanping is now considering one thing: to what extent does He Daqi intend to boost the box office of "The Thieves"? Will it overtake "Avatar"?
Should we try to persuade him? After all, the movie "The Thieves" is only so-so, and if he watches it too much, it's a bit like he's treating people like dirt.

What a happy problem!
Han Shanping thought to himself...

"Chairman Han! It's started over in Asia-Pacific!"

Outside the office door, the secretary didn't push the door open to come in, but called out directly through the door, as Han Shanping had instructed in advance.

"okay, I get it!"

Han Shanping responded, then immediately moved the mouse. The computer screen lit up again, and he saw the ticketing platform on the page. He clicked refresh, and sure enough, the surprise ticket price promotion was back.

Two hundred thousand discounted tickets for Painted Skin 2 for 9.9 yuan each day, and one hundred thousand discounted tickets for 6.6 yuan each.

First come, first served, while supplies last each day. The Painted Skin 2 event will run for a month.

At the bottom of the ticket giveaway page, there is a preview of the event: "[Spring Festival Movie Fan Appreciation Event is Coming Soon]". The ticket price on the Treasure Hunt Alliance poster on the page is marked with a question mark, below which is a large date, February 3rd, and below that is a countdown.

Putting everything else aside, just looking at this scene tells you how ambitious He Daqi is this time.

Han Shanping hesitated for a moment while looking at the page, but finally took out his phone and dialed He Daqi's number.

"Da Qi, are you busy?"

"Well, Mr. Han, just say what's on your mind. I have to rehearse a dance with someone in a little while."

"Then I'll get to the point. Take it easy on the Treasure Alliance project. A box office of 1 billion is about right. Don't exceed that by too much, otherwise the later movies will have poor box office results, making Treasure Alliance too conspicuous."

After Han Shanping finished speaking, He Daqi remained silent for a moment before replying, "Understood."

The two exchanged a few words about the film schedule for Asia and Vietnam, then hung up the phone without saying anything else.

In the dance studio, He Daqi chuckled and shook his head after hanging up the phone.

One billion? That was the standard He Daqi set for Painted Skin 2.

You know, Painted Skin 2 originally grossed 700 million yuan, so it can't be that it's not even as good as the original box office, right?

As for the Treasure Hunt Alliance, He Daqi is prepared to invest at least 1.2 billion.

Han Shanping probably never imagined that the domestic box office would increase significantly in the next two years, without the need for ticket subsidies, as those top films would easily gross over a billion yuan.

This is partly due to the explosive growth in the number of screens produced by private cinema chains over the years, and partly due to the fact that people are now living better lives and have some spare cash.

Each generation is more creative than the last, and now it's the time when those born in the 90s are starting to date. These young people, who have been exposed to the internet since childhood, find going to the cinema to watch movies commonplace. This consumer mindset has become a factor in the box office boom.

Even without He Da using ticket subsidies to lure moviegoers into theaters, there would still be films that gross over 1 billion yuan this year, and every year thereafter.

This year it's Transformers, next year it's Lost in Thailand, and the year after that it's Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons.

So, it's fair to say that Old Han isn't ambitious enough, or perhaps he doesn't have the same do-or-die courage as before. Maybe it's because he's been scammed less in the last two years, and he's gained some confidence in making his own movies, so he's becoming more and more cautious.

When Painted Skin used ticket subsidies to boost box office, what was its highest box office? Titanic's was 360 million. Under those circumstances, Lao Han dared to push the box office to 800 million. Now, however, he doesn't dare to let He Daqi push the box office of The Thieves to a higher level. So, people need to be pushed a little, otherwise they will become complacent.

(End of this chapter)