Shadow of Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 269 Kissing Scene?

Due to its award, the film "Youth" will be released globally in quick succession after "Become Yourself" finishes its run.

"Sissi's Dog" grossed 1.15 million RMB in China and over 5 million RMB worldwide. These profits are basically no longer related to Sissi's Entertainment.

"Become Yourself" grossed 1.52 million RMB in China and a total of 1.1 million USD worldwide. (PS: These figures do not include film and television revenue.)

However, the profits from outside Huaxia have already been sold and converted into shares of Hudong Heavy Machinery.

In addition to the 4720 million RMB box office revenue from the Chinese region, several million RMB in film and television copyright income was deposited into the company's account, which was used for expenses, needless to say.

In fact, the box office figures for both films were somewhat inflated. "Sissi's Dog" won awards, was supported by major universities, had virtually no piracy, and even received a key to extend its run.

"Become Yourself" is due to the high box office of its previous film, its awards, numerous copies, and high screening frequency.

Of course, the film's high quality and An Xiaoxi's own influence are also indispensable and important factors.

In terms of box office alone, Hu Xiaobei has successfully entered the global billion-dollar box office director club in just one year.

At that time, no director in the entire country had a total box office of over one billion yuan.

In other words, judging solely by box office revenue, Hu Xiaobei is already the undisputed number one director in China.

In terms of awards, he can be considered to have surpassed other directors. (PS: At this time, Zhang Yimou had won two Golden Lions and one Golden Bear; his Cannes nomination was only.)

Directors who can produce both box office hits and award-winning films are highly sought after by investors, distributors, cinemas, and actors, both in China and other countries.

Since "Sissi's Dog" won the award, there have been no shortage of people and companies waving money in an attempt to cast him in movies.

She swept three major international film festivals within a year, becoming the youngest actress to win three Best Actress awards, and the copyright and box office of her three films were also astonishing.

Let alone private enterprises and individuals, even companies like China Film Group are not immune to this practice in order to meet their performance targets.

If it weren't for the fact that Qianbeifeng Entertainment has strong financial backing, its revenue doesn't primarily come from the domestic market, and China Film Group has already taken over the domestic distribution of three of its films.

It's possible that a large portion of Hu Xiaobei's new film investment will also be taken up.

But the fourth film was different. Han Sanping, the head of China Film Group, was about to step down as general manager and take on the role of chairman.

In fact, as early as 1995, when China Film Group was first established, Han Sanping had already served as the vice chairman and deputy general manager.

In 2001, Tong Gang, the former head of China Film Group, was transferred to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

Subsequently, Han Sanping succeeded him as chairman and general manager.

In 2007, Han Sanping propelled China Film Group into a new stage of development through a series of strategic plans and industrial development initiatives.

With the establishment of various specialized companies, China Film Group has increased its control over the film production process and further improved its industrial chain layout.

Chinese cinema has also begun to enter a mature era of blockbuster films.

Blockbusters like "The Promise" and "Red Cliff" were products of this period.

While it's undeniable that some blockbusters are truly terrible, they have also stimulated the development of the Chinese film industry.

With the booming development of China's economy, people's wallets have become fuller, and the box office has entered a period of rapid growth.

In this environment, as long as Hu Xiaobei's films want to be released in China, they will inevitably have to deal with China Film Group.

There's no good end to hoarding wealth; it's reasonable for everyone to share the profits.

With Liu Xiaoli in charge of arranging related matters, and with the support of the Beijing Film Academy and other prestigious film and television schools, some things can be kept under control to a certain extent.

Upon returning from Venice, Hu Xiaobei did not immediately begin filming his new movie.

First, An Xiaoqian has won three Best Actress awards, so she needs to be given more exposure; otherwise, the media will definitely be relentlessly pursuing her. Second, the filming of her new movie also requires preparation and planning, and of course, most importantly, its positioning.

Having already swept awards at the three major European film festivals, the new film should be more commercially viable.

For Hu Xiaobei and An Xiaoqian, they have already proven themselves artistically, but their global box office performance is still far from impressive.

It's not that they lack skill, but rather that to achieve high box office returns, they must conquer the European and American film markets.

Throughout the history of Chinese cinema, only Bruce Lee has achieved this feat through his own talent.

Later figures like Hendrik Willem Van Loon and Lien-Chieh Lee, while also extremely famous, merely followed the path of kung fu films pioneered by Bruce Lee.

It is worth mentioning that in the original timeline, the 2007 film "The Forbidden Kingdom" was officially launched and began a nearly six-month audition process.

The film was originally called "Double J Project" because it was the first collaboration between two kung fu superstars, Hendrik Willem Van Loon and Li Lianjie, whose names both begin with the letter "J".

It also had other names such as "Forbidden Kingdom" and "Guardian Angels," before the film was officially titled "The Forbidden Kingdom."

Therefore, from the perspective of outsiders, there was no prophecy, just a simple coincidence, or perhaps it was just a publicity stunt.

This film originated from a screenwriter mentioning a bedtime story he wrote for his son to the producer on the film set.

The producer immediately decided to invite him to write these stories into a script, thus beginning the nearly three-year preparation process for the film.

Finally, they found Robert Minkoff, the director of "The Lion King" and "Stuart Little" animated films, to direct.

At that time, almost all the young actresses with some fame, both domestic and international, auditioned, such as Ruby Lin, Fann Wong, and Li Bingbing.

An Xiaoqian was the first actress to audition. It took her about half a year from the audition to the casting, and she finally won the role based on her own strength and age.

It's worth mentioning that the script they initially encountered included a kissing scene.

Whether there will be any kissing scenes during the actual filming is hard to say.

Because after the movie is officially released, there will be no kissing scenes.

Moreover, judging from the movie's plot, there is no obvious romantic storyline between the male and female leads, making the mention of a kissing scene seem abrupt.

The most common explanation online is that although this scene is not in the movie, it appears on American DVDs.

However, if you really search for relevant information, you will find that there isn't even a single screenshot of this so-called kissing scene.

(P.S.: Whether there was a kissing scene or not is questionable! However, I really can't find any; if there really was, there's no reason why there wouldn't be a single picture!)
Online reports about this kissing scene are mostly text-based or sensationalist.

Based on the principle of benefiting from the news, the answer is already quite obvious as to who released it.

In addition, there was the issue of the role of Golden Swallow, which also led to An Xiaoqian being smeared with a lot of mud.

Actually, the florist company only purchased the film's theatrical rights in mainland China in advance. (This excludes Hong Kong and Taiwan, where the fees were no lower than in mainland China.)

Their influence is practically zero, and they are far less influential than Emperor Entertainment Group in Hong Kong.

(PS: This is also a form of investment; you can recommend your own people for one or two supporting roles, but you don't have the final say. Similar situations exist in many Chinese entertainment novels; if you apply this to your own experience, you'll understand whether they actually have the power to decide on the roles.)
To put it simply, Hu Xiaobei's previous films mainly earned their revenue from selling copyrights overseas.

If copyright holders like those in Germany or France had purchased the film's distribution rights in their respective countries...

Then, can they use this to decide the male and female leads in Hu Xiaobei's movies?

Let alone these small countries, even if copyright holders from the United States or small countries came, it would be a lost cause.

At most, it would be a friendly recommendation for a supporting role, and it would depend on whether the plot suited the character and whether Hu Xiaobei was willing. (PS: Given the box office performance of China Film Group at the time, it was indeed not taken seriously.)

(End of this chapter)