Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 376 Me, La La Land, Christmas Showdown with Avatar?
"Amy, there's no need to emphasize this!"

"If you were my subordinate, I would definitely fire you!"

Amy said helplessly to Gu Bei.

Are young people these days so lacking in sense of propriety?

Besides, how could these middle-aged couples possibly compete with the passion of two young lovers like you?

"Back to the topic!"

Seeing that things were going well, Gu Bei's expression turned serious as he said to Amy on the conference call, "I've seen the audition footage the casting director filmed for them."

I think Garfield and Hutchison are quite good.
We can let them come for the final audition.
We'll see how their action scenes turn out then.

Although Garfield is Gu Bei's favorite Spider-Man.

But he only made the mistake that every director makes.

I just want to see how the other candidates perform!

in fact,

Josh Hutcherson is also one of the most promising young actors in Hollywood right now.
Gu Bei really liked his future role as the male lead in The Hunger Games, as well as his performance in the TV series The Pro Gamer Saves the Future.
Even at this stage,
He also has two representative works: The Polar Express and Journey to the Center of the Earth.

The Polar Express is currently the highest-grossing film in IMAX history, earning $7100 million in IMAX theaters, accounting for more than one-fifth of the box office of this relatively unknown movie.

Amy then suggested, "How about Ehrenreich?"

A young Han Solo in the future?
Gu Bei recalled his audition segment.
I don't remember them well, but they weren't bad-looking.
He didn't dismiss Amy's suggestion: "You could give it a try."

Amy casually reminded him, "He was recommended by Spielberg. His father is Spielberg's accountant, and they are also a Jewish family."

Who says there's no social etiquette or human relationships abroad?
Gu Bei instantly understood what Amy meant.
This means that this person has nothing to do with her, and her opinion doesn't need to be considered in the future.

Rather, the Jewish community wanted to push the other party to play Spider-Man.

After all, Spider-Man is one of the world's most beloved superheroes.

However, in such a mega-production with an investment of over two hundred million US dollars,

They consider these factors far less than independent films.

Moreover, this is no longer the last century, and the influence of Jewish gangs in Hollywood has long been weakened.

"Should we add Eisenberg to the list as well?"

Amy asked Gu Bei, "Isn't he one of your Rose Gang members?"

"The Rose Gang? What's that?"

Gu Bei was completely bewildered.

Amy heard Gu Bei's questioning voice.
She was even more puzzled than Gu Bei: "Isn't it this group of people, with you, Crystal, and Rose Pictures at the core, that Rose Pictures uses a large number of members of the Rose Gang in its movies?"

Isn't this your own inner circle? Why are you asking me what it is?
Gu Bei frowned: "Where did this idea come from?"

This matter has been widely circulated for some time now.

The Hollywood Reporter even published a special report on it.
Neither you nor Crystal refuted it, so everyone assumed it was true.

Amy was surprised to find that Gu Bei was unaware of this matter, even though Gu Bei's behavior perfectly matched the description. "Your actions are indeed very misleading."

Garfield played the male lead in your Whiplash series.

He also played the male lead in La La Land.
You were the first to nominate Spider-Man on the list.

Gu Bei immediately retorted: "Isn't it possible that La La Land first cast Emma Stone as the female lead, and then chose a male actor who was suitable to Emma?"
The chemistry between the two of them is beyond my control!

"And then there's J.K. Simmons, who also started as a Whiplash drummer."
After you helped him win an Oscar, you used him multiple times in films like *The Artist*, *La La Land*, *The Fault in Our Stars*, and now as the newspaper owner in *Spider-Man*.

Amy then gave another example.

"J.K. Simmons is cheap and easy to use."

Moreover, his role as the newspaper owner is a classic character from the original trilogy, allowing him to maintain an emotional connection with the previous generation of fans!

Gu Bei refuted again, but his tone was not as firm as before.

He uses J.K. Simmons quite frequently; the other man has almost become his go-to supporting actor.

Anthony Hopkins, the whiplash drummer, the father trapped in time;
Jesse Eisenberg, The Fault in Our Stars, The Social Network;
Henry Cavill, Whiplash, Mission: Impossible 4.

Amy gave three examples in a row.

I hadn't noticed it until I started organizing, and now I realize it's all just permutations and combinations.
After a pause,

Amy continued, "I didn't even mention Crystal's example in The Hollywood Reporter! From the actors in Whiplash to the director of photography, you and Rose Pictures have used her at least twice."

Oh no, I really am forming cliques for personal gain!

When the facts are presented to us,
Gu Bei had to admit that

However, after the initial surprise,

He quickly grasped the logic behind it.

It wasn't that he was intentionally or unintentionally forming this "Rose Gang," but rather that he knew which actors would rise to the top tier in the future.
Besides opportunity, those who can reach the top tier also need to be popular with the audience.

When choosing roles, if the role is suitable and the actor's acting skills are sufficient, he will definitely prefer actors who have been 'successful' before.

But then again,
It's not impossible for the Rose Gang to emerge.

Rose Pictures needs the help of a group of people to move from an independent studio to a broader stage.
Hollywood is not just about fighting and killing; it's also about human relationships and social interactions!
"Eisenberg won't do. His image is too effeminate and doesn't suit the image of Spider-Man's sunny, boyish neighbor."

You could ask him if he'd be willing to play the Green Goblin.
Let's see how the reaction goes.

The Green Goblin villain might be used in later parts of the story!

Gu Bei immediately removed Jesse from the list, because no matter how successful Jesse becomes in the future, the role still needs to be suitable, and the integrity of the film is the most important prerequisite.

Finally, after discussing it with Amy, Gu Bei...
Following the previous three candidates,

Anton Eugene, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Logan Lerman were also added.

They formed the six people for the final round of auditions.

However, compared to the casting of Spider-Man,

At this stage, La La Land is more important.

La La Land will be released on December 4th.
Independent films of this type typically undergo limited releases through art-house cinemas to build word-of-mouth before gradually expanding their screenings. The advantage of this approach is similar to organic audience reach: precise audience targeting and low distribution costs.

Otherwise, advertising in North America is extremely expensive.
Many of the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the distribution of blockbuster films are poured into offline and television advertising, essentially using money to forcibly buy the audience's attention.

Moreover, Gu Bei was still in China at that time.
So the initial scale of La La Land screenings

There are only six art-house cinema chains.

The methods of publicity were limited to radio interviews and magazine interviews.

And then... La La Land exploded!
Every show was sold out.

Every single show was absolutely sold out!
The box office figures were exactly the same for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
They are all exactly the same $368,688.

Because all the tickets for all screenings at the six arthouse cinemas over those three days were sold out!

This is also why Gu Bei felt speechless when Zhang Weiping criticized Gu Bei's new movie for flopping.

This is a movie that grossed over $60,000 in a single theater!

And for three consecutive days!

Even on weekdays after the first weekend,
Apart from the morning shows, every show was sold out starting at noon.

There have even been sporadic scalpers making a profit by reselling La La Land movie tickets.

La La Land grossed $195 million in its opening weekend, with each of the six art-house theaters averaging $32.5, a phenomenal success that shocked the entire Hollywood.

Musicals aren't dead yet!

Compared to silent films,
Musicals in the new century have been in a state of semi-death.
Traditional narrative musicals are practically dead; those that are still alive today are mostly films adapted from musicals.

For example, the film Chicago, which won the Oscar for Best Picture, is adapted from a classic Broadway musical. This film is like bringing the musical to the screen, with audiovisual language that is closer to the stage.

Or like Disney's Enchanted Story, which is more similar to traditional Disney animation, thus starting Disney's infamous path of live-action animation, even ruining Disney's original animated films with Snow White.

La La Land, by following the traditional path of musicals, has become so popular with audiences, making it absolutely unique in the new century!
Starting in the second week,
La La Land is not limited to the six art-house cinemas in Los Angeles and New York.

Instead, under the arrangement of Sony Classic Films, a large-scale screening began.

Arthouse cinemas across North America were eager to bring La La Land to theaters, with a total of 366 theaters showing the film.

Furthermore, the male and female leads, Emma and Andrew, received invitations to various television programs and began to appear on television screens one after another.

La La Land continues its dominant performance even amidst widespread screenings in art-house cinemas.

Over the following weekend, it grossed over $1200 million in 366 theaters.

Even after its large-scale screenings began, La La Land maintained a daily box office of over $10,000 per theater, demonstrating its enormous box office potential to everyone.

Gu Bei also flew from mainland China to Hollywood this week.

He originally planned to come back for awards season and, incidentally, to prepare for the early stages of Spider-Man's release.
But La La Land's box office performance far exceeded expectations, forcing him to incorporate film promotion into his work schedule.

Time suddenly became tight.

He only did it at night.
Only then was I able to make a transoceanic phone call with Liu Yifei.

And having a casting meeting with Amy for Spider-Man.

the next day.

Gu Bei arrived at Sony Classic Films.
He sat down opposite President Michael Buck: "Michael, it's Christmas this week, you can't possibly give me any more work, can you?"

"Don't worry, Bruce, Christmas is not a day we can get involved in."

Michael smiled at Gu Bei. "I asked you to come here to wait for the box office results for the third weekend, as well as the voting results from the New York Film Critics Circle this morning."

Keep in mind that the results from the New York and Los Angeles film critics' associations will be announced this afternoon and tonight, respectively!

Gu Bei was also somewhat curious.

Last weekend was the third week of La La Land.

The film's screenings have expanded from being limited to art-house cinemas to include commercial cinemas, with the number of theaters now showing the film reaching 1100.
The key is,

This week is also the last week before Christmas.
This week, 20th Century Fox has scheduled two blockbuster releases.
Besides the family-friendly 3D animated film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Stars Club

It's Avatar, the movie that shocked the world once again!
However, La La Land has nothing to do with Avatar.

One is a 3D science fiction film that focuses on special effects.
The other one is a musical about dreams and reality.

Each film had its own distinct market during the Christmas season; La La Land couldn't steal Avatar's box office, and Avatar wouldn't affect La La Land's box office.

"How's Avatar going?" Gu Bei asked curiously.

"I reckon Fox is going to be in trouble this time."
Avatar, with an investment of nearly 300 million, only grossed less than 27 million US dollars on its opening day.

The second day saw a drop of only 5%, but the box office only reached $2550 million. It remains to be seen whether Avatar can maintain its box office performance during the Christmas holiday on Friday.

"If we continue to expand our theater network, we might even surpass Avatar's box office!"

Michael said with a hint of schadenfreude.

Although the target audiences of Avatar and La La Land are clearly distinct,
But next week, Christmas, is the peak season for natural attendance at North American cinemas.
At this point, the two sides have a very clear competitive relationship!
Ah!
I, La La Land, will face off against Avatar this Christmas?
That's not how the script was written!

Gu Bei looked slightly bewildered. Could it be that his butterfly effect had played such a big role?
Avatar's $27 million opening day box office is not only less than Twilight Saga's $7933 million, but it also can't even compare to Liu Yifei's The Wrong Star's $38.5 million opening day box office.

After a pause,

Gu Bei shook his head.

He took the time to see the premiere of Avatar, and the situation was clearly not like that.

He looked serious and said to Michael, "Michael, I think you should go to the cinema and see for yourself. The cold numbers on the box office data don't reflect the reality of what you actually see in the theater."

Avatar is destined to be a world-changing film; opening day box office has never been Cameron's forte!

I think I will!

Michael noticed Gu Bei's expression and nodded obediently.

After all, Cameron's big ship is still fresh in everyone's memory. With less than ten million dollars in opening day box office, it managed to gross six hundred million dollars in North America after 287 days of screening.

The two continued their discussion about La La Land's future release strategy.
Before they even received the weekend box office report,

However, the results of the 75th New York Film Critics Circle Awards were finally released, with La La Land winning three major awards: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Cinematography, marking a successful start for La La Land as an Oscar bellwether.

(End of this chapter)