Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 184 Director Feng's Little Secret

Several foreign films were released during the National Day holiday in October.

Among them is Gravity, and it's a key film in that series, having already grossed over $700 million overseas.

Many people in China are curious about this movie, and most say that you must see the 3D version, as it is no less than the masterpiece that pioneered the 3D era.

The online reviews are quite fair, with many people thinking the content is nonsense because our country doesn't have an international space station.

Even many people abroad are saying that Chen Shouzhe is dreaming too much, actually believing that China will have its own international space station.

Just because Chen Shouzhe is Chinese, it was China's International Space Station that ultimately saved the Americans?

Many netizens are rambling on online, mocking Chen Shou for dreaming.

The film received mixed reviews in China. Some felt the female characters were naive and dragged the team down, while others thought the ideas were outrageous, befitting a science fiction film. Still others couldn't understand why a movie had to be taken so seriously.

Anyway, it didn't affect the movie's box office, because it was a science fiction film directed by Chen Shou, and it was well received as always, with the box office reaching 8452 million on the first day.

Because it's a revenue-sharing arrangement, the number of screenings in cinemas will increase somewhat, but not too much, as the authorities don't allow too many screenings.

Just like domestic films going abroad, everyone is doing trade, but there are always underhanded tactics.

When your product is not good, you are likely to suffer losses in the market.

The same applies to movies. Don't be fooled by what some people say about how well a movie is shown overseas. Movies with foreign cultural elements tend to face stricter censorship.

Another issue is the existence of certain shameless individuals, which means that there's always a flexible line in the review process.

The film "Chen Shou Zhe" didn't receive much publicity, nor did Shou Zhe Film Studio. However, some celebrities did promote it, which is understandable given the film's quality.

October passed uneventfully. Chen Shouzhe basically either went to the Rose Garden, stayed home to take care of the children, or went to work at the company.

With five films in production at Shougang Film Studio, Guo Fan's "The Wandering Earth" is still in pre-production, Huang Bo's "Racing" is in the filming stage, "Mojin: The Lost Legend" is ready for release, the final installment of "A Chinese Ghost Story" is planned for release next year, "Hello Mr. Billionaire" is in the final stages of post-production, Wu Jing's film, which he invested in, is still in production, and Yang Mi's film "Finding Mr. Right" is also in production.

Chen Shouzhe basically has no film plans for this year, so he can finally relax.

Xiao Xiaomeng's team is already at full capacity. The animation team is already producing an animated film based on Journey to the West, followed by post-production work on the movie, with priority given to Guo Fan's team.

November was fast approaching, and the Golden Horse Awards in the south invited him to attend. Chen Shouzhe was out of the question, but Feng Xiaogang did go.

Moreover, he brought his film with him, which was nominated for Best Director and had previously won several film festival awards. With this film, Feng Xiaogang hoped to achieve success.

However, he got into a fight with Wanda over the film's release schedule.

"Is it true that Wanda deliberately suppressed Ye Ning because of her job-hopping?" Chen Shou was invited by Huang Bo to visit the set of Huang Bo's racing film and watch the movie.

Although he has successfully transitioned to a new career path, he is still worried about not being able to make Chen Shouzhe's film well, so he invited him to come and take a look and give him his feedback.

"Who knows? Maybe I should make a call and ask. I don't like gossip," Chen Shou said with a laugh.

The actors nearby, hearing Chen Shouzhe's words, widened their eyes. Was this how a big shot enjoyed gossip? So direct. And sure enough, Chen Shouzhe actually made a phone call right in front of them—not to anyone else, but to Xiao Wang.

Because Feng Xiaogang's Weibo posts were simply insulting.

A letter from Pan Jinlian to Mr. Wang xx.

Anyone who didn't know better would think it was written by Pan Jinlian. You could just say your own name, but you insist on saying it's Pan Jinlian. Is that a good name?
In the movie, Pan Jinlian is a stigma. A woman is slandered and called Pan Jinlian, but Pan Jinlian is not a good name. It is a synonym for a harlot.

So Xiao Wang started a fight, making the whole internet gossip.

"Why are you calling me?" came Xiao Wang's voice from the other end of the phone.

"I just want to know some gossip. Did Wanda reduce Huayi's screenings because of Ye Ning?" Chen Shou asked with a smile.

"No, it's just normal commercial scheduling. They're asking for 30% of the screenings all at once. They're overthinking it. And the average? They're just stirring up trouble. You know how those people operate. Do you really think they've suffered some great injustice? They think they're something special just because they won a few awards?" Xiao Wang said.

"Oh, I see. Alright then, I'll just watch the show," Chen Shou said with a smile.

"Damn, you really don't have anything else to say? Such a big director called just for this?" Xiao Wang was furious, not expecting Chen Shou to actually be here to watch the drama unfold.

"Otherwise, what could I possibly be doing? I can't possibly go chasing girls with you, can I?" Chen Shou said.

"Okay, you win."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Shouzhe looked at Huang Bo and the others and spread his hands, saying, "You all heard it too. They just want to get ahead, so they're looking for an excuse to start a fight and increase the movie's popularity. This kind of publicity tactic puts them in a weak position."

“It’s obviously a success. Why don’t we do the same? Anyway, you and Wanda have such a good relationship. If all else fails, we can go to Dadi or Hengdian and tear them apart,” Huang Bo said with a smile.

"Not really. Let them do whatever they want. Xiao Wang was probably disgusted. That Weibo post was meant to be offensive. If it weren't for the non-compete agreement, Wanda would probably have taken all their movies off the shelves," Chen Shou said with a smile.

Xiao Wang really did have that idea, but it's not feasible in practice. Unless the movie performs poorly, it's impossible to cut a movie's screenings.

Of course, they could also resort to tricks, such as stealing box office revenue, and even Huayi Brothers would have to suffer in silence.

Huayi's actions will definitely offend people. The box office may be good in the next few days, but after all, it is an art film, and the audience is so-so. It won't make the movie lose money, but it's almost impossible to make a lot of money.

This can only allow Huayi to struggle briefly; in the current stock market environment, Huayi is already teetering on the brink of collapse.

There's little limit to how much hype production companies can generate, especially publicly listed companies.

They value box office revenue, but what they really care about is the stock price the film can generate.

Future films will become increasingly extreme and market-driven, and there will be fewer and fewer companies that honestly produce films, instead focusing more on hype and promotion.

Money will only be concentrated in the top films, gradually eliminating those poorly made and shoddy movies.

Shouzhe Pictures finally announced that its films would be released during the Lunar New Year season, leaving countless film companies that were preparing to make a big splash during the Lunar New Year season speechless. The worst thing had still happened.

(End of this chapter)