Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 277 Loud a noise, little rain

On Friday, the opening day box office figures for "Transformers" were finally released:
2241 yuan!

This achievement not only far surpasses the previous record of 1726 million yuan set by "Spider-Man 3" for the highest-grossing opening day for an imported blockbuster;
It even surpassed the original 2235 million yuan of "Now You See Me", breaking the opening day box office record once again.

Moreover, this is happening on a weekday, not a weekend – it's truly phenomenal!

As for "Black Peony," its box office has been severely squeezed to just over 1.5 million yuan. With the meager box office of over 3 million yuan from the previous two days, it has finally barely broken through the 90 million yuan mark.

However, with the sudden emergence of "Transformers", its space for survival has been almost completely squeezed, and it is obvious that the box office will decline further.

The front pages of major media outlets immediately erupted in excitement:
Arthouse films fail to outperform commercial blockbusters at the box office; "Black Peony" is a box office disaster, while "Transformers" dominates the market!

[Transformers breaks single-day box office record, poised to hit 3 million!]

[The film "Black Peony" has reached the 90 million mark, but breaking 100 million remains uncertain; imported blockbusters dominate the summer box office.]

Liu Yifei and Wu Chen also chose a time that noon to watch "Transformers" at the cinema.

The atmosphere in the cinema was lively. Although it was a midday screening on a weekday, the attendance rate was quite good compared to other midday screenings where the seats were almost empty.

On the screen, Bumblebee is being beaten half to death.

"Actually, it's alright!" Liu Yifei said softly, leaning on Wu Chen's shoulder, her tone relaxed.

"Haven't you seen the Transformers cartoon?"

Wu Chen watched with great interest. At this time, "Transformers" was still quite well made and was a decent popcorn movie.

"Hmm, I haven't seen it. Have you?" Liu Yifei blinked.

“I have indeed seen it. Many people come here because of nostalgia.” Wu Chen turned his head to look at her and smiled slightly.

Transformers was mostly watched by people born in the 70s and 80s, who happen to be the main movie-consuming group today. It has to be said that Paramount chose the right time.

Liu Yifei leaned comfortably against Wu Chen's shoulder. In her opinion, what movie to watch was not important; what mattered was who to watch it with.

A hint of a smile appeared in her eyes, and she suddenly sighed softly, "Well, do you think we're aiding the enemy? We contributed a hundred to it, and we're still struggling to break a hundred million."

Wu Chen almost burst out laughing upon hearing this, but he couldn't help it for a moment. He then straightened his expression and replied in a serious tone, "Strictly speaking, yes!"

The two looked at each other and smiled.

You understand my humor, and I reciprocate your tastes; this way, our interactions will never be boring.

On the second and third days, Transformers continued to sweep the domestic market with overwhelming force, with no day's box office falling below 20 million yuan. In just four days, the box office easily exceeded 100 million yuan, firmly securing its position as the summer box office champion.

In contrast, the box office performance of "Black Peony" is already precarious, as if it's walking a tightrope every day. The latest day's box office is only 101 million, and it's about to fall below the million mark at any time.

The industry was in an uproar.

Many film companies are both envious and fearful, worried that their own films might clash with Hollywood blockbusters and become cannon fodder.

"See? Even Wu Chen can't beat him. We'll have to be careful about scheduling from now on." "Yeah, the domestic film protection month should be extended a bit, otherwise how will domestic films survive?"

"These damn cinema chains don't protect the local film industry at all; all they know is to give more screen time to imported films."

There's a lot of talk in the industry right now. After all, it's not uncommon for films to break 100 million in just four days. In today's film market, where breaking 100 million is a rare occurrence, who can withstand that?

As expected, it was another closed-door meeting.

"There is no such thing as a 'domestic film protection month,' which is unfounded. However, supporting domestic films must be implemented in a practical way."

It must be said that this is the art of language; you can't let outsiders find fault with it, but you will still protect what needs to be protected.

During the meeting, Wu Chen and "Black Peony" were specifically praised, with the opinion that art films are developing well. At the same time, everyone was encouraged to shoot more high-quality, highly industrialized works, and to vigorously develop film technology and special effects to improve the overall technological content of film companies.

At this point, Deputy Director Zhang Hongsen casually mentioned a few company names.

Some film companies immediately cowered like turtles, stammering and their words veerd off-topic.

"These people are all talk and no action," Han Sanping and Wu Chen muttered as they walked out of the meeting room side by side afterward.

Everyone knows that only blockbusters can compete with other blockbusters, but when it comes to actually making them, few companies are willing to do the special effects, and even fewer are willing to make big investments. They don't want to take any risks; they only want to make money.

The scene at the meeting just now clearly showed that everyone wanted to reap the benefits of the protection month, but no one cared about development.

Wu Chen did the math and realized that, to be honest, aside from the big-budget films that China Film Group dared to invest in, there weren't many companies that truly dared to spend money to make big-budget films. Even Zhang Weiping was much better than these people in this respect, despite being backed by Zhang Yimou.
"Your special effects company seems to be making big moves. When will it be affiliated with Starry Sky Pictures and merged into your company?"

"Let's give it a year as a transition period," Wu Chen replied with a smile. After all, he had promised Zhu Jiaxin that she was still working on the dual headquarters project in Beijing.

Han Sanping nodded, then, as if remembering something, continued:

"By the way, I saw Lionsgate say the script for 'Now You See Me 2' is finished. They'll be preparing for it in the second half of the year, filming next year, and releasing it the year after. Have you read the script? Be careful with the scenes in China; don't cross any lines."

"I haven't seen it yet. I'll go to Hollywood in a few days and then take a look." Wu Chen nodded, having no objection to Lionsgate's scheduling.

Sequels shouldn't be too close together, as it can easily lead to viewer fatigue; one every two or three years is just right.

After leaving the conference room, Wu Chen went directly to the Chaoyang District, because Xiantao Digital's former Beijing branch was located there, although it is now one of its headquarters.

This area is also home to leading visual effects companies like Tiangong Yicai and Base FX, all located close to each other, forming an industry cluster.

"Mr. Zhu, we still need to put in a lot of effort to get the equipment connected with Wan Kuan. The special effects project for 'Painted Skin' will be released later."

Wu Chen glanced around and saw that the special effects company had made a smooth transition. At least the personnel and equipment were all gathered. However, there were obviously too few people in Beijing, and the company needed to expand gradually.

"Okay, Mr. Wu."

Zhu Jiaxin nodded repeatedly, her heart filled with emotion.

Back then, they worked themselves to the bone but couldn't get any big orders. Now, Xiantao Digital has just changed its name and has already received a large domestic order.
(End of this chapter)