This celebrity is overly enthusiastic!

Chapter 125 Ten Fingers Covered in Spring Water

[As expected of Zhang Yimou, his films were not known for their box office success, which allowed Feng Xiaogang and Chen Yuanzhi to rise to the top.]

To achieve such results on their first attempt at a commercial blockbuster is remarkable!

"Hero" is the real blockbuster, with its strong Eastern aesthetic and artistic appeal, and its quality surpasses all previous domestic films.

Kung Fu Panda is a product meticulously designed by Chen Yuan, a shrewd businessman.

Using kung fu and pandas as merchandise, the cultural elements are simply piled up, and the story isn't a Chinese story at all; it's just a blatant attempt to ride the coattails of the Olympics.
I want to laugh when I hear a bunch of people praising his cultural export efforts. Some even say he deserves all the credit for the successful Olympic bid. I just want to ask, if you told Chen Yuan that, would he dare admit it?

It is a disgrace to the Chinese film industry for an animated film to remain at the top of the domestic box office. I thank director Zhang Yimou for washing away this disgrace.

Hero has already received a Golden Globe nomination; next, it will go abroad, bring glory to the country, and let foreign friends see the true charm of the East!

Chen Yuan is very capable; he is an absolute genius, and no one can deny that.

You fans need to learn to accept your idol's imperfections; he's really not a qualified director.
He didn't receive formal acting training; even "Legend of Seven Swords" was filmed by Zhang Jianya on his behalf.

Chen Yuan, a super genius who suddenly appeared out of nowhere in mainland China, has such talent that even established stars in Hong Kong and Taiwan have to give him some respect, and his peers have to fawn over him.

Add to that the perfect male lead character played by Pan Hong in "Legend of Seven Swords," and calling him the number one star across Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong might be met with a lot of criticism for such an absurd claim.
However, if the qualifier "new generation" is added before "top star," then there would be no objection.

Regardless of whether this "new generation" refers to those born in the 1970s or 1980s, Chen Yuan's current status is undeniably high.

Countless fans have become fans of him, whether because of his talent, appearance, or roles in TV dramas. Faced with so many malicious and derogatory comments, they will naturally speak out in support of their idol.
Looking down on the cultural export of "Kung Fu Panda"? Do you know how many foreign tourists the Sichuan Kung Fu Panda Park has received since its opening?

[A movie that only grossed over 100 million yuan is trying to piggyback on a 2.6 billion yuan box office? Are you trying to make me laugh to death?]

[We've invited so many big-name stars from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, but none of them seem as charismatic as Po, Tigress, or Brutal.]

[The official channels have praised Kung Fu Panda and Chen Yuan so many times, and you just deny it all? You're even more powerful than the official channels!]

[Bullshit! Saying Chen Yuan has no directing ability? He designed almost all the fight scenes in Kung Fu Panda, okay?]

Furthermore, if you have unused eyes, please donate them to those in need. Zhang Jianya and Yuan Kui, during a television interview, both highly praised Chen Yuan's learning ability, believing he has grown into a qualified television drama director.

Many people who watched "Hero" but had a negative impression of it also joined this battle of public opinion.

[Those who praise Zhang Yimou and his box office success, have they actually seen "Hero"? Such a simple story was made into something so contrived; I'm speechless.]

I honestly regret spending 120 yuan to see this movie. To be honest, it's not as good as Kung Fu Panda. The story of Kung Fu Panda is a hundred times smoother than Hero!

[Aside from the visuals and art direction, this movie is utterly worthless and mindless. How could the Qin state possibly support so many soldiers who had left their jobs to work?]

Doesn't anyone find it incongruous to discuss "the world," "peace," and "chivalry" during the chaotic Warring States period? Was it wrong for the First Emperor to unify China?

Many media outlets that followed suit compared these two commercial films, which are currently the only two to have grossed over 100 million yuan, exacerbating the confusion in the public discourse.

Finally, on New Year's Day, Chen Yuan gave Third Master some face and took the initiative to accept a media interview, saying things like calling on the audience to watch the movie rationally, that there was no need to compare and criticize, and that the movie "Hero" was of great significance, etc.

However, Chen Yuan was still somewhat dissatisfied with the box office results.

When "Kung Fu Panda" was released, the cinema reform had not yet started. At that time, the film distribution model was based on administrative regions, with distribution going from top to bottom, layer by layer. Even with the help of China Film Group, the distribution costs were enormous.

The film supply method was also based on administrative regional plans, resulting in regional monopolies, departmental divisions, and a closed market. Cinemas weren't connected to the internet; Chen Yuan could only accept whatever number they reported.

What can we do if they don't acknowledge it?
According to post-event statistics and estimates from the metaverse, given the quality and reputation of "Kung Fu Panda" and the patriotic passion ignited by the successful bid for the Olympics, the total revenue should be at least 2 million.

But in the end, it only amounted to 1.3 million; it's unknown how much of it was lost.

Compared to the chaotic cinema system in China, Columbia Pictures has been relatively conscientious in its approach.

"Hero" caught a good time. The distributor supplied the film directly to the theaters, eliminating layers of resellers. The newly established theater chains were also allowed to compete across provinces, and a unified national market was initially formed.

In addition, Zhang Weiping sent the finance department to keep watch at the entrance of the cinema to check if the cinema was engaging in any deceptive practices. With an average ticket price of 80 yuan, "Hero" achieved the miracle of 1.3 million yuan in box office revenue in ten days.

However, what Chen Yuan finds most troublesome right now is not the uproar over public opinion.

Rather, it was because he was previously obsessed with his career and relied on girls to rekindle his original passion for entering the entertainment industry.

Now, being too focused on staying true to one's original aspirations has affected one's mindset in pursuing one's career.

There's no way around it, it's just that Yi Yi and Tang Tang are too good at getting things done!

This is not a matter of 1+1=2 at all, but an exponential leap!

The experience of having your five fingers wet with spring water is worlds apart from having all ten fingers wet with spring water; it's like opening the door to a whole new world!
The two 19-year-old girls, no, they'll only be 20 after New Year's Day, have gradually shifted from a competitive yet cooperative relationship to a cooperative yet competitive one.

Chen Yuan often recalls the image of the two demons fighting over each other, which shows how deeply he is poisoned by it.

Fortunately, Binbin was the cure for his heartache.

After Binbin became convinced that Chen Yuan had helped her conquer Columbia Pictures, she turned down all subsequent acting offers and most other activities to focus on learning English and exercising.

The entire filming of "The Edge Walker" required speaking English.

Chen Yuan encouraged her to apply what she learned, and Binbin quickly became familiar with the use of phrases such as 'oh,' 'yes,' and 'god.'

The filming of "Meteor Shower" is about to begin, and even if we are reluctant, this rare indulgence should come to a halt.

During this period, the company finally selected the first batch of fifty or sixty people to participate in the "Edge Walker" project, and they have now been urgently arranged to learn spoken English.

In the film and television industry, no one wants to miss this extremely precious opportunity. As a result, even the morale of the production teams of "The Legend of the Female Doctor" and "Meteor Shower" was somewhat unsettled.

But this time Chen Yuan had no time to train his troops; he had to select the most capable people to take on this most difficult project to date.

Therefore, the only option was to hold a skills competition within the company, with the best candidates being eliminated.

The same applies to China Film Group. Moreover, they have even more to consider. People in the industry know how valuable it would be to participate in such a large Sino-US co-production project, and all sorts of influential figures want to get involved.

The initial selection of the required personnel has been dragging on since the memorandum was signed, and it still hasn't been finalized.

Colombia also needs time to assemble a team to make a film, especially a big commercial film, where pre-production often takes longer than actual filming.

It was about a week after New Year's Day that the two sides began to have formal contact.

(End of this chapter)