Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 653 Saving the Market? Guo Fan's Bold Words
July arrived as scheduled, accompanied by the sweltering heat of Beijing.

However, for the domestic film market, the start of this summer season has been rather chilly.

The highly anticipated epic film about women, "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan," was officially released a few days ago.

After its release, the film quickly received polarized reviews and sparked considerable controversy on social media.

Most male viewers said they couldn't understand the subtle and private "old comrade" relationship depicted in the film, and found it drowsy.

Female viewers, meanwhile, snuggled up to their best friends in the theater, shedding tears and choking back sobs over the timeless sisterly bond.

Despite generating plenty of buzz, the box office performance was shockingly poor.

The box office for the first three days was less than 1800 million.

This outcome is something that only Zhang Ziyi, who is hiding in the shadows and has fallen out with producer Wendi Deng, can laugh with unbridled abandon.

The production company is lucky, considering the salaries of Li Binbin and Jun Ji-hyun.

Add to that the costs of international filming, and the production costs are bound to be high.

However, Zhang Ziyi is also a troublemaker, and she even praised "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" on Weibo: "A flower of dreams watered by the creators' hard work and perseverance."

"Whether it's a big spender or not, I don't know, but I think the production team is probably crying their eyes out."

Are you sure you're not being sarcastic?

Netizens didn't let Zhang Ziyi off the hook either, making fun of her in the comments.

But what's even more surprising is the film "Wu Xia" produced by Stellar Media. Despite being touted as a big-budget film with an investment of 150 million yuan, it only grossed less than 50 million yuan in its first week.
The domestic film market at the beginning of July had a dismal start, with a bleak outlook.

The media, naturally, loved to watch the drama unfold, and they all started to stir up trouble in various ways.

[Snow Flower and the Secret Fan flops at the box office and with critics! Wuxia has a bad start! Can Ex Machina save the domestic film market in July?]

From "The Warlords" to "Wu Xia," has Peter Chan run out of ideas? Can newcomer director Guo Fan create a "dark horse miracle"?

[Guo Fan is expected to beat renowned Hong Kong directors to star in "Mysterious Island," which is set to be released soon.]

Time passed amidst the clamor and pessimism, and July 10th arrived.

The premiere of "Ex Machina" was held at Wanda Cinema CBD in Beijing.

Although this was the premiere of director Guo Fan's debut film, thanks to the prestigious "Starry Night Production" brand, the number of guests in attendance was comparable to that of any top-tier blockbuster.

Wu Chen was quite relaxed today; he only needed to attend as a guest with Liu Yifei.

Shu Chang also came along this time, and together with Liu Yifei, they murdered countless films.

Guo Fan led Huang Xuan and other key members of the production team to greet the group.

"The media has all said that the future of domestic films this July rests on your shoulders," Wu Chen said, patting Guo Fan on the shoulder half-jokingly.

"Senior brother, please don't put pressure on me, it's too much."

Guo Fan gave a bitter smile.

In the past few days, the media has placed all the hopes of the entire domestic film industry on this newcomer.

He knew perfectly well that this wasn't because he was particularly capable, but because he had Starry Sky Pictures backing him.
At this moment, all the main cast members were there and greeted Wu Chen one by one, including Tong Liya, who played the robot maid.
Wu Chen was still wondering if Chen Sicheng would come, but as soon as he and Liu Yifei entered the inner hall, they saw Chen Sicheng chatting and laughing with Zhang Lin, having a very pleasant conversation.
"Director Wu!"

Upon seeing Wu Chen, the two immediately stood up to greet him.

"By the way, how's the post-production for the TV series going?" Wu Chen casually chimed in.

"That's good, it should be finished around October."

Chen Sicheng appeared very humble in front of Wu Chen.

“Okay.” Wu Chen nodded, then said to Zhang Lin, “Then, Mr. Zhang, Wanda will take the lead in the subsequent distribution and promotion of the TV series. I won’t be involved anymore, as I expect to be quite busy later.”

"no problem!"

Zhang Lin happily agreed.

Han Sanping also came over specifically, partly to give them face, and partly to see how Wu Chen's latest protégé, the director, was doing.
"Are you confident?" Han Sanping's question was very direct.

"You haven't even seen the movie, Mr. Han, yet you already know the ending?" Wu Chen couldn't help but find it amusing.

"I don't believe you haven't seen the finished product."

Han Sanping understands Wu Chen very well.

More and more guests arrived one after another.

Moreover, Starry Night Pictures always attracts an unusually large number of directors to its films.

Ning Hao arrived with Xing Aina, and Lu Yang, who had been hiding at Xingchen Visual Effects, also showed up. Jiang Wen, on the other hand, brought Zhou Yun.
As the audience gradually entered the theater, Guo Fan led the main cast and crew in a brief thank you to the audience and guests before the theater lights slowly dimmed.

The film has officially begun.

All media outlets and viewers were filled with anticipation.

After all, this is another science fiction film director launched by Starry Night Pictures after Wu Chen. Ning Hao, Jiang Wen, and others watched with great attention.

The plot of the movie is not complicated.

The story revolves around a programmer, played by Huang Xuan, who is selected by his company to conduct a week-long Turing test on an AI robot named "Ava," played by Du Juan, in a secluded villa.

During those seven days, he talked to "Ava" through a glass wall and was gradually attracted by her "intelligence" and "emotions," and even fell in love with her.

He decided to help "Ava" escape from this "cage".

With the film shown here, Jiang Wen could already guess the gist of it.

"Interesting. There should be a plot twist. The setting is simple, and the budget is probably pitifully low, but the storytelling is by no means lacking."

Xing Aina then nudged Ning Hao.

"How about it."

"A pretty good piece of soft science fiction; Wu Chen has definitely found the right person."

Ning Hao then responded in a low voice.

But then, just as the film was about to end, a major plot twist occurred.

After the programmer successfully helped "Ava" escape, he was horrified to discover that he himself was the real "test subject."

From beginning to end, "Ava" used his emotions to achieve her goal of escaping.

She didn't just understand love; she perfectly learned how to use love.
On the last bustling crossroads of the capital, the mechanical girl turned back one last time, revealing that cold and eerie smile, before slowly disappearing into the crowd.

This scene sent a chill down the spines of the viewers.

"Could it be gone?"

"Has the robot disguised itself as a member of society?"

Before the audience could react, the screen went completely dark, and the credits for the backstage crew began to slowly rise.

"This twist."

"The ending even had a touch of horror, which was quite good; it was very engaging."

"."

Applause erupted from all directions.

Guo Fan stood up excitedly and looked at Wu Chen.

The latter, with a pleased smile, was clapping enthusiastically for him.

"I fooled you again."

Han Sanping sat in his seat, muttering to himself.

The first time was with "Love is Not Blind," and the second time is with "Ex Machina."

What a great sci-fi movie!
Although it's not hard science fiction like Interstellar or The Martian, this soft science fiction that explores artificial intelligence and humanity is just as brilliant, and even more thought-provoking!

"Hey, Mr. Han, I'm not kidding you," Wu Chen denied directly.

"What are Guo Fan's next plans? China Film Group wants to contribute to the development of Chinese science fiction."

Han Sanping is quite shrewd; he's already made up his mind. Wu Chen couldn't help but chuckle at this.

We'll see when the time comes.

"I'm afraid that you'll come along and say that because it's a low-budget business, you can't squeeze in that many people."

There was a hint of resentment in Han Sanping's words.

At this moment, Guo Fan had already led the main creative team to the stage to accept interviews from the media. The reporters, always looking for trouble, asked increasingly pointed questions.

"Director Guo, the domestic films had a poor start in July, with both 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan' and 'Wu Xia' falling far short of expectations at the box office. Are you confident that 'Ex Machina' can carry the load for domestic films in July?"

"Director Guo Fan, how would you rate your debut sci-fi film?"

"Director Guo, in terms of box office performance, which do you think is stronger, 'Ex Machina' or 'Wu Xia' directed by Chen Kexin?"

Guo Fan was naturally quite adept at handling the first two questions.

As for the last one, Wu Chen smiled and nodded to Guo Fan from below the stage.

The latter was exceptionally confident at that moment.

He and Wu Chen had naturally discussed the box office issue, especially in the last few days.
"Both Ex Machina and Wuxia are excellent domestic genre films. I believe that in terms of final box office figures, Ex Machina will most likely not be worse than Wuxia."

Guo Fan paused, looked at the reporters below the stage who had become excited because of his words, and continued:

"As for profits, I believe they will far surpass those of 'Wuxia'."

(End of this chapter)