Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 357 The Sound of the Wind Blossoms in Both China and the US, Reaching the Top of the Chinese Film Box Office

After all, one of the biggest disadvantages of the news is that it doesn't have any big events.

With the current speed of the world's most powerful pirated CD industry,

It seems that pirated CDs of Feng Sheng have already been released.

Once people return to work after the National Day holiday, pirated CDs will be available all over the country.

With the added holiday adjustment after the National Day holiday, people have even less time to go to the cinema. Without the appeal of a grand spectacle, it is difficult to attract audiences to the cinema.

The box office during the National Day holiday is even more important for Fengsheng!

"The box office performance this time was pretty good, wasn't it?"

Liu Yifei looked at Gu Bei curiously.

The fact that The Message grossed over 100 million yuan in just four days is enough to satisfy her.

After all, the current box office champion of Chinese films is only a little over 300 million yuan. The Message even has a good chance of surpassing Red Cliff and becoming one of only three Chinese films to join the 300 million yuan club, along with The Founding of a Republic.

"Of course, it's to make it even better!"

Gu Bei turned his head and said with a smile.

Liu Yifei was looking at previous box office records.

What Gu Bei saw was the future box office record: the 4.2 million yuan of "The Founding of a Republic."
And the $13 billion from Avatar was only three months ago.
In fact, the domestic film market already has considerable potential, just waiting for a film to unleash it.

at this time,

Gu Bei saw a new email notification.
After opening it, he smiled and said to Liu Yifei beside him, "Looks like we're in luck. We were just dozing off when someone brought us a pillow."

Liu Yifei curiously leaned over and read the email's title: "10.02 North American Box Office: The Message earned $330 million on its opening day, ranking third, and second among new releases."

She did a quick calculation and exclaimed in surprise, "Isn't the opening day box office in North America higher than in China? How could the North American box office be so high?"

"Is it high?"

Gu Bei countered, "It was released in over 600 theaters, and the box office per theater was only $5,000. This is the lowest result I've ever achieved for a film."

Moreover, if you think about it carefully, you, me, and Zhang Ziyi together make up the strongest Chinese combination we can offer right now.

"It seems...it really is true!"

Liu Yifei thought about it carefully.

She unexpectedly discovered the director and the two female leads in "The Message".
They happen to be the three people who have worked the best in Hollywood in recent years.

She then understood Gu Bei's intention in having her record the English dubbing for "The Voice of China" some time ago: "You had already planned it all along, preparing to let 'The Voice of China' make a fortune in North America?"

"What a blunt truth!"

Gu Bei was amused by Liu Yifei's "honest words".

He just thought it wouldn't be difficult to produce an English version of The Message. Both female leads were capable of playing leading roles in Hollywood films, and dubbing them was part of their job. All that was left was to find an English voice actor.

Moreover, the name Gu Bei.

That's enough to make a significant number of cinemas willing to schedule screenings.
Moreover, the female lead is Liu Yifei. Half a year ago, Gu Bei and Liu Yifei co-produced the low-budget dark horse film, Star Fortune.
When their names were put together, Peak Entertainment didn't need much promotion and easily secured tickets for over 600 cinemas. The opening day box office was a huge surprise for Gu Bei.

Even Gu Bei found it somewhat incomprehensible.

Which North American moviegoers were drawn to The Message?
North American Chinese and art-house film enthusiasts certainly couldn't support such high box office numbers.
Furthermore, Gu Bei's book fans are mostly young girls, so they are even less likely to like this type of movie.

After much thought,
Gu Bei thought the most likely culprits were actually the R-rated film enthusiasts in North America.
R-rated films are all about sensory stimulation, and the interrogation scenes in The Message are key to its R-rating. Combined with the simple suspense of Werewolf, it's really quite suitable for R-rated film enthusiasts in North America.

the next day.

[The Message's success in both North America and China: North American opening day box office of $2300 million surpasses China's opening day box office!]

The news that Gu Bei deliberately released sparked a public outcry.

"What's going on? Is this fake news? You can't just exaggerate like that!"

"This seems to be true. I'm studying at a university in North America, and when I went out today, my neighbor asked me, 'Was Japan really as bad as Huang Xiaoming portrayed back then? The thing is, I haven't even heard the rumors yet!'"

"Thinking about it carefully, Gu Bei probably had some considerations when he was choosing the actors. Liu Yifei goes without saying, and Zhang Ziyi is also known as the international star. The actresses chosen for the two female leads are all actresses who have developed well in North America."

“I went out and looked it up, and I even found a review on the website of the well-known film critic Roger Ebert. He gave it a three-star rating and praised it as an anti-war film with a unique perspective.”

"Is this for real? I was planning to go to the cinema to see The Message in a couple of days, but now I have to go see what makes this movie so special that it's going to be shown internationally."

"I feel we should also give it a try. It's impossible for the North American box office to be higher than the domestic box office. If Chinese films have to rely on the North American box office for support, then Gu Bei probably won't want to make Chinese films anymore!"

This time, the rumors could be said to have the upper hand.

The content of 1942 was not very popular with the audience to begin with, but Feng Xiaogang not only did not reflect on his actions, but even made those kinds of remarks, which stabbed 1942 twice in the back.

While the wind was gaining the upper hand,

Another breakthrough has emerged, with both the US and China experiencing a surge in activity.

It immediately captured the hearts of most moviegoers who intended to go to the cinema during the National Day holiday.

Starting on the fourth day of the National Day holiday...
After The Message surpassed 1942 in terms of screenings,
Just two days later, the two sides' screen time distribution became overwhelmingly dominant.

Apart from "The Founding of a Republic" maintaining a firm 25% share of screenings,
The remaining films' screenings have been reduced from 10% to 5%.

In 1942, the percentage could only be reduced from 40% to 20%.

The film "The Message" monopolized 50% of the screenings.

The box office of "The Message" also soared, jumping from 30 million on the 3rd to 55 million on the 6th in just three days, with a cumulative box office of 250 million, just one step away from breaking 300 million.

This exaggerated gesture has shaken the entire industry.

too exaggerated!

Huayi.

"How dare they? How dare they!"

Feng Xiaogang has returned to Beijing and is currently at Huayi Brothers headquarters, furious at the latest box office figures. "Even when my movie was first released, they only gave us 45% of the screenings, but now they're giving us a full 50%!"

The box office for the film "1942" has now dropped to 1000 million.
Whether it's box office or screen time,
It's not even as good as The Founding of a Republic, which has been in theaters for almost a month.

The Founding of a Republic has already surpassed 3.2 million yuan, while 1942 only grossed 1.2 million yuan. If it can break 2 million yuan in the future, that would be enough to satisfy us.

The critical acclaim but commercial failure of "1942" has cast a shadow over Feng Xiaogang's career transition.

"Because they can handle it!" Wang Zhongjun said calmly, looking at the furious Feng Xiaogang. "In the past few days, the screenings of 'The Message' have been increasing."

But at the same time, their box office revenue has been steadily increasing, which means that these screenings were used effectively and all the rumors were translated into actual box office revenue!

"Is it because The Rumors had a high box office in North America that everyone rushed to buy it?" Feng Xiaogang still couldn't accept it.

"It is indeed a good movie."

I've seen it too. It has suspense and thrills, plus a hard-fought victory at the end.

The emotions were greatly uplifted, no wonder it grossed so much at the box office; it's a truly perfect genre film!

Chen Guofu spoke up.
The story of "The Message" was the one he took a liking to first.

Unfortunately, the story had barely been published when Gu Bei spotted it and bought it.

Even if he got his hands on it, he estimated that he wouldn't be able to make a film as perfect as Gu Bei.

Because Huayi Brothers' biggest resources still have to be invested in Feng Xiaogang, he can only get second-tier resources and can't give the same all that Linlang Entertainment and Enlight Media did to this film.

Oh, and we should also include Weibo.

The level of discussion surrounding "The Message"

He never left Weibo.

It gives the illusion that everyone is watching the rumors.

"I'm more concerned about their marketing tactics!"

Wang Zhongjun nodded to Chen Guofu, indicating his agreement with his point of view, "I don't know if Zhang Ziyi's revelations about Liu Yifei were pre-arranged, but the box office in the first few days was supported by audiences who wanted to see a good show."

When Zhang Ziyi's revelations about Liu Yifei broke at the end of June, it caused a huge uproar.

Then, in early July, Liu Yifei's "Star Fortune" surpassed 100 million yuan, and at the end of July, Zhang Ziyi's "Sophie's Revenge" surpassed 100 million yuan. Both of these films surpassing 100 million yuan were related to the conflict between these two top actresses.

Now, only three months after that storm, the two have teamed up as the two female leads of The Message, surviving the storm to the fullest extent.

All I can say is that Gu Bei definitely understands marketing techniques!

"The most crucial point is the concentrated outbreak. The three films were released within three months, and each film benefited from that wave and also extended the popularity of that wave."

Chen Guofu also added a point of view.

After this review, everyone in the meeting room fell silent.

If that storm was unintentional,

That's a little better.
But if Gu Bei and his team orchestrated that storm, then their aggressive support back then was quite clownish, essentially contributing to the box office success of "The Message."

After a pause,
Wang Zhongjun was the first to recover: "Let's put this matter aside for now. The nationwide roadshow in 1942 is over. Xiaogang, you should take a good rest."

"From now on, Huayi's entire focus will be on going public!"

The entire Huayi fell silent. The tide had turned, and they couldn't stop it even if they wanted to. So, the more silent they were, the better.

For the crew of "The Message," the most important thing was the celebration banquet.

With the end of the National Day holiday,
The buzz finally broke 300 million on the 7th.

It broke 300 million yuan in eight days, becoming the fastest Chinese-language film to reach this milestone.

Although it's still a step away from the 3.3 million yuan of The Founding of a Republic, it's clear that it's only a matter of time before The Message becomes the highest-grossing Chinese film.

An ice sculpture with the number "300000000" written in large characters was placed in the middle of the venue, waiting for the crew of The Message to smash it.

"You guys go first!"

Gu Bei smiled and said to Liu Yifei and Zhang Ziyi, "You two are the biggest contributors. Without your performances, The Message wouldn't have achieved such great success."

"Director Gu should go first. His script and direction are the key to the success of The Message."

Zhang Ziyi quickly waved her hand, insisting that Gu Bei knock first.

After the results of The Message came out, she put aside her grudges about the previous offline audition for Gravity. After all, The Message's success in North America gave her a representative work in the North American market.

Unfortunately, while she wanted to let bygones be bygones, Gu Bei was unwilling to do so.

Just as the two were refusing to give way to each other,
Liu Yifei snatched the hammer from Zhang Ziyi, then grabbed Zhang Ziyi's hand and gestured for Gu Bei to shake it as well: "Let's all do it together!"

Gu Bei hesitated for a moment,
This happened in front of everyone.
There were dozens of media cameras pointed at them!
Liu Yifei gave him a playful wink, specifically from an angle that the media couldn't capture.

Gu Bei rolled his eyes at her, then followed Liu Yifei's idea, grabbed her hand, raised it high, and then slammed it down.

Congratulations on The Message's box office exceeding 300 million yuan in mainland China!

The host, Liu Yan, then shouted loudly.

The cameras of the media below kept clicking.

Capturing this rare intimate moment between Gu Bei and Liu Yifei,

The relationship between these two is known not only to those in their own industry, but practically to the whole world. However, they pretend to be oblivious in front of the public, and crucially, no one can get a photo of them together.

"I wonder when these two will be exposed. Those paparazzi, give it your all!"

"Haha, I reckon even if photos were taken and leaked, it probably wouldn't cause any surprises now. Isn't this something everyone already knows?"

"Speaking of which, The Rumors has already surpassed 300 million, how much is The 1942 box office now?"

"It seems to be a little less than 1.3 million. The box office competition during this National Day holiday was really fierce. The Founding of a Republic, Back to 1942 and The Message, who could have imagined that The Message would become the ultimate winner?"

"I was optimistic about Feng Xiaogang from the beginning, but I didn't expect the gap to widen so much. Feng Xiaogang made a good film this time, but he's not as good at dealing with people as before."

"They're about to become billionaires, so things will definitely be different from before!"

"A billionaire? I doubt it! 1942's box office was a huge failure. I heard from the guys in the finance department next door that Huayi's bidding activities aren't as popular as before."

"Hahaha, heaven is watching what people do. He deserves it for saying such things!"

After Gu Bei and his two companions smashed the ice sculpture...
The other members of the crew also picked up their hammers and joined in smashing the ice sculpture.

After smashing the ice sculpture,
Then came the media Q&A session.

The first question the media asked was not to director Gu Bei, nor to the two leading actresses Liu Yifei and Zhang Ziyi, but to Wu Gang, who only had a few minutes of screen time in the film.

"Mr. Wu Gang, what are your thoughts on your soaring popularity in North America and your upcoming trip there for the promotional activities for The Sound of the Wind?"

(End of this chapter)