Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 318 OMG, you guys have so many firsts!

Universal Studios

Backstage at The Tonight Show with Conan.

Is there some bad news?

Liu Yifei's expression darkened considerably after seeing that Gu Bei had received the message.

"The premiere of Fault in Our Stars was cut in screenings to make way for Fast & Furious 4, but the Hannah Montana movie, which was released on the same day, was not cut in screenings."

Gu Bei composed himself, not revealing too much emotion.

"How could they do this!" Liu Yifei felt a little annoyed.

"After all, Fast and Furious belongs to Universal Pictures, and the Hannah Montana movie belongs to the evil Mickey Mouse. The theaters have more collaborations with the Big Six studios, so naturally they will pick on us easy targets."

Gu Bei smiled and said with a carefree expression.

He was naturally a little annoyed when he first received the news.

Theaters are like weather vanes; they side with whichever side seems to be in control.

However, what he knew even more clearly was...
The scheduling of films in theaters is not something he can influence within the industry.
Since they can't influence the theaters' scheduling, they can only focus on their own promotion and leave everything to the audience's choice.

"puff!

Evil Mickey Mouse?

Liu Yifei couldn't help but smile, "Disney will sue you if they hear this."
But why are theaters so optimistic about that Hannah Montana movie? Isn't it just a feature film version of a sitcom?

"This sitcom is no ordinary one."
It is the most-watched TV series ever premiered on the Disney Channel, averaging over 500 million viewers per episode.

At least in North America, Hannah Montana is far more famous than The Fault in Our Stars!

Gu Bei already had a very thorough understanding of the competitors that were releasing this week.

"500 million isn't much... wait, the Disney Channel, that's a paid cable channel!"

Liu Yifei was initially dismissive.

But after realizing it, I remembered that the Disney Channel requires a family subscription to watch.

What does a viewership of 500 million for a paid cable channel mean?
The first season of Game of Thrones earned 250 million viewers, and it wasn't until the third season that it reached 497 million. The movie starring Hannah Montana had the same impact as the fourth season when it was halfway through its run.

"It doesn't matter if the opponent is stronger!"

Gu Bei reassured Liu Yifei, "We don't need to worry about how strong our opponents are; we just need to focus on our own publicity."
The North American film market could easily accommodate both of our films.

Liu Yifei heard this,

She looked at Gu Bei with some surprise.

Normally, Gu Bei values ​​box office and awards more, while she doesn't care as much about these things.

But when you actually encounter a problem...
When she was getting a little anxious
Gu Bei was actually the most calm and open-minded one.

Under Gu Bei's influence, Liu Yifei's heart calmed down.

She looked at Gu Bei earnestly: "I believe that the works you create with your heart will definitely be favored by the audience!"

Gu Bei smiled.

He already knew about the wrong grades in the astrological chart.
When you have confidence in your heart, you naturally feel at ease!
at this time,

The director began calling them to come on stage.
Gu Bei, Liu Yifei, and Jesse went behind the curtain.

From behind the curtain came Conan's voice introducing them: "Welcome back!"
Next, please welcome our last three guests for today.

Let me read out one of the guests’ achievements; you’ll definitely be able to guess who he is!

This guest is a film director who is only twenty-two years old.

His films have garnered two Academy Award nominations for Best Director, one Academy Award for Best Picture, a Golden Globe Award for Best Director, a Cannes Palme d'Or, a Venice Golden Lion, and an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay...

Oh my god, am I supposed to read this all the way until the end of the show?

Alright, let's welcome Bruce Gou, the author of the original novel and director of the film adaptation of The Mistake in Our Stars!

And there's also his leading lady, Yifei Liu, and his leading man, Jesse Eisenberg!

The curtain slowly rose.

A group of spectators seated on the steps had already begun to applaud enthusiastically.

Gu Bei walked at the front and waved to the enthusiastically cheering audience.

Liu Yifei followed closely behind. During the years she filmed TV dramas, she participated in countless programs and was already used to such crowded studios.

Jesse, on the other hand, staggered as he walked out, clearly unaccustomed to the scene.

Conan shook hands with Gu Bei first.
He chuckled, bringing up a joke Gu Bei made on a TV show last year: "Hey, alien, aren't you ready to go back to your planet yet?"

"That depends on when the Academy awards me an Oscar for directing!"

Gu Bei replied with a smile, "I'll go back after I get it!"

Conan immediately made an exaggerated expression: "All Oscar judges watching this show, please remember this..."
Do not vote for Bruce.

We need him!

Hollywood needs him!

Then, he shook hands with Liu Yifei behind him: "Welcome, beautiful lady!"

Conan then brought up Gu Bei, who had just sat down: "Bruce, are you sure this was chosen based on your novel? I remember the female protagonist in the book wasn't as beautiful as this lady, was she?"

Gu Bei watched Liu Yifei sit down and praised her with a smile, "Then you should go see the movie. Her performance in the movie will exceed your evaluation of her appearance!"

Conan then shifted the audience's attention to Liu Yifei: "The director has personally acknowledged your acting skills, so what do you think was the most difficult thing during filming?"

"How did he portray the mindset of a terminally ill patient!"

Liu Yifei pondered for a moment before answering with a serious expression, "When I was reading the book and the script, I wondered why so much mental activity was needed in the early stages."

Later, the director asked me to go to the children's hospital where he had volunteered.

After living with terminally ill children for a period of time, I finally understood the director's purpose: when a person is in despair, she is unwilling to speak!

"This is so sad!"

Upon hearing Liu Yifei's words,
Conan made a sad puppy face, which meant that he had empathized with the sadness in Liu Yifei's story.

He was facing the camera and said very seriously:

"Just like Bruce said in that interview,"
Teenagers live in reality just like us adults.
When problems such as illness, depression, and death occur...
It doesn't consider the patient's age!

The atmosphere in the studio somber. Conan quickly took control, turning to Jesse, who had just sat down: "This is your first collaboration with Bruce. What have you learned?"

"There are so many!"

Jesse's face lit up with excitement, and his tone became more animated, "Bruce is a director who knows exactly what he needs."

This is the movie I've cut the most, but it turns out Bruce was right every time; he guided me into the character's inner world.

Working with him is like learning.

"Bruce, did you hear what Jesse said?"

He's asking you for a new job opportunity; hurry up and start preparing for your second collaboration!

Conan chuckled, exposing Jesse's sycophantic nature, then glanced down at the cue cards in his hand, a subtle smile playing on his lips. "Speaking of the number of times we've collaborated," he said.

Although viewers may consider this to be Bruce and Liu Yifei's first collaboration,
However, according to our information, this should be their third collaboration, and they might even be about to collaborate for the fourth time!

A chorus of cheers erupted in the studio.

These are all professional spectators.

They knew perfectly well what kind of emotion Conan needed.

Following the cheers of the audience, Conan asked Gu Bei with a smile, "Bruce, can you tell me why you two have collaborated so many times?"

Do you hope to see her while you're at work?

Seeing this, Liu Yifei looked at Gu Bei with a smile, wanting to see how he would respond.

"Actually..."

Gu Bei remained calm and composed, completely unaffected by the jeers. He even kept everyone in suspense, saying, "Your information is incorrect. This is actually our fourth collaboration!"

Your first feature film, Whiplash
And your first Chinese-language film, The Message
Including the film adaptation of your first book, that makes a total of three.

Conan looked down at the cards in his hand, a hint of gossip in his eyes. "OMG, you guys have so many firsts!"

What did I miss?

"What you missed was my first short film, The Sound Engineer!"

"Another first time! So, what started your first collaboration?" Conan was shocked and immediately began to grasp this exciting story.

"Actually, it's a very coincidental story!"

Gu Bei smiled and began to recount, "As I mentioned in a previous interview, I wrote 'The Mistake in the Star' entirely for the $1.5 advance payment to shoot my first short film, 'The Sound Mixer.'"

However, what I never mentioned was that when I was halfway through filming, it started snowing heavily in New York.

Conan, you were in New York back then, you should know how heavy that snowfall was.

Conan nodded at the camera: "I can attest that the heavy snow forced the late-night show to be suspended for a week!"

"Because of the heavy snow, I had to stop filming my short film, and since the filming budget was just right, I didn't have any budget to cover the other expenses caused by the snow."

Then, on the day it snowed, after I finished the book club meeting for the new book "The Wrong Star in Our Fortunes," I met her.

Gu Bei smiled and continued the conversation.

"You're not going to tell me that you funded him to finish making the short film, are you?"

Conan turned to look at Liu Yifei in disbelief.

"Yes!"

Liu Yifei smiled and nodded.

"Danny will go crazy! You're the one who unleashed this terrifying creative machine and stole his Oscar for Best Picture!"

Conan looked incredulous and took the opportunity to tease Danny, who won the Oscar for Best Director but missed out on Best Picture.

"Another very interesting thing is that I had never seen The Fault in Our Stars at the time, and I didn't know him at all."

Liu Yifei shared the story with Conan with a smile, "He sat down in front of me and asked if I was a fan of his books and if I needed his autograph!"

Conan laughed and said to Gu Bei, "Bruce, you really are an arrogant man!"

"I think I know why he thinks that way!"

Liu Yifei looked at Gu Bei with a smile.

Gu Bei said helplessly, "Please don't mention that matter."

Conan quickly asked gossipily, "This isn't a film set anymore, tell us what other stories are behind this?"

Liu Yifei said with a smile, "Because before me, he had just been asked for an autograph by a girl. That girl happened to be my neighbor's classmate. I only found out about this later."

"So we started working together from the beginning with the short film."

Taking advantage of Liu Yifei's example, Gu Bei continued, "I know very well that she is a very talented and hardworking actress, and I am very satisfied with her portrayal of Heather!"

"What a romantic story of how you met, Bruce! You should write this into a novel too!"

Conan exclaimed repeatedly,
After discussing the story of how Gu Bei and Liu Yifei met,

Conan continued chatting with the three about other topics.
But without a doubt, it can't compare to the story of Gu Bei, Liu Yifei, and the mistake in the Starry Night, the intertwined fates of these three, that part should be the peak of Conan Tonight's ratings.

"Finally, the movie adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars will be released nationwide in the US tomorrow, April 10th!"

Conan began to deliver his closing remarks.
He tapped his cue cards, his tone light and cheerful, as if he was about to leave work: "So, Bruce, this is your second time at my show. What would you like to say to my show and the audience?"

Gu Bei said with a smile:

"The last time I came, you were still doing a late-night show."

It's already prime time for Tonight's Show.

Of course I hope your shows will get better and better in the future!

Conan said happily, "Thank you so much, Bruce!"

the next day,
Gu Bei and his team conducted publicity in other locations.
Nielsen, which tracks viewership ratings, has released the results for tonight's show.
The segment "The Mistakes in the Stars" from the one-hour Tonight Show was the highest-rated segment, watched by over 1000 million adults aged 18-49.

Gu Bei and his two companions successfully completed their mission in this publicity campaign, achieving maximum exposure.

And it was also on this day
The Fault in Our Stars has officially been released in 3622 theaters across North America.
Facing the Fast & Furious 4, which just grossed $8925 million in its opening week,

There's also Disney's signature teen sitcom, the Hannah Montana Movie.
The only good news,

It's because of the empire that was built by Twilight last year.
In addition, Gu Bei's three films achieved remarkable success with limited budgets.

Even though theaters were unwilling to give them more screenings, they were still willing to bring copies of the film into theaters, which resulted in Starship Troopers having the highest number of wrong theaters among the three.

(End of this chapter)