Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

"Love Like a Bouquet" was released on a weekday, and its box office on the first day was only 430 million, a mediocre result.

With the spread of film critics' columns and word-of-mouth recommendations on various forums, the daily box office exceeded 10 million on Saturday, and continued to grow on Sunday, exceeding 12 million.

The box office reached 48 million in the first seven days. At this rate, it will not be a problem to break 100 million in the end.

The ending theme song, "Unfortunately, If Only," sung by Zhuang Huai'an, contains the line: "If only we had said what we should have said that day," which perfectly captures the situation of the male and female protagonists in the drama.

This song even made it onto the request charts of various radio stations one after another, in addition to the songs he wrote for Liu Yifei and Zhang Liangying.

Many people jokingly say that he is a singer whose career was delayed by directing.

Hong Kong and Taiwan regions

"The Big Shot" is a joint production between China New Media and Taiwanese producer Wu, so it cannot be introduced to mainland China for the time being.

Lung Wu and Boss Wu discussed it and decided to release the film simultaneously in Hong Kong and Taiwan, then tour Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia before finally sending it to the mainland for review.

However, Zhuang Huai'an felt that this movie would have a hard time entering the mainland market because his script was the original Korean version, which contained some nudity and bloody scenes. Deleting them would not fit the lawless temperament of a chaebol heir.

However, he didn't need to worry about these things. He simply wrote a script and took on the title of producer. After repaying the favor of Long Wu and his wife for their support, they could only talk about interests in the future.

December 23th,

"Kung Fu Hustle" hit theaters, grossing 1400 million yuan on its opening day, breaking the record for the highest-grossing opening day in Chinese film history. On Christmas Eve, it raked in 2100 million yuan, breaking the previous single-day box office record held by "Hero".

Stephen Chow's box office appeal will last for a very long time.

Professor Ren from Shanghai Film Studio was extremely relieved, as the release of "The Bouquet" was moved up, thus avoiding the onslaught of this rampaging behemoth.

Some might say that the two films are of different genres, and viewers can watch the bouquet and then watch the kung fu.

This situation was common in later generations, but it is unlikely in the present day. The reason is simple: GDP has not yet increased. The price of a bouquet of flowers was 39 yuan, and the price of kung fu was 45 yuan. At present, the average monthly income in Beijing is around 2500 yuan, and the minimum wage standard is only 550 yuan per month.

Therefore, movies are still a relatively niche form of entertainment.

Even Zhuang Huai'an, a second-generation city-level official, didn't go to the cinema for the first time until 2010, when he watched his good brother's work on the World Heritage List, "Let the Bullets Fly".

In fact, 2004 was the first year of the explosion of the mainland film market, but the overall market size of the entire film industry chain was only 36 billion RMB, which included box office revenue from theaters, broadcasting rights on movie channels, DVDs in the secondary market, overseas copyrights, derivative products, and so on.

Of course, the diversion of revenue to the piracy market is also a contributing factor.

For example, "Love Like a Bouquet" was released less than a week ago, and pirated versions were already available online. In an era before special effects blockbusters were common, many netizens were quite enthusiastic about these pirated versions.

This is a characteristic of the times, and no one can change it except by the iron fist of the upper echelons.

In the courtyard house

Zhuang Huaibao sat in the tea room, looking out at the heavy snow falling through the glass, and sighed as he exhaled a puff of smoke.

"2004 has passed, and I miss it very much."

"What are you missing?" Liu Yifei barged in, holding a spatula.

She was wearing her family's heirloom cotton-padded jacket, with a plaid apron over it, and the plump aunt's arm sleeves. Her hair was piled high, giving her the look of a young cook.

Zhuang Huai'an's face fell, and he said earnestly, "Qian, listen to your brother's advice, give up cooking. You're still young, you can't handle it."

"No!" the little girl said stubbornly. "I can do it. Even the chubby auntie said I have a lot of talent."

"Okay, okay, then I'll test you. Auntie Fatty always talks about the right amount of oil and salt. What does 'right amount' mean?"

"It's just based on intuition!"

"Is that why you put half a packet of salt in your stir-fried vegetables?"

"Huh?" Liu Yifei looked embarrassed and stammered, "It's based on my feeling... I was just worried it wouldn't taste good."

Zhuang Huai'an stepped forward, snatched the spatula from her hand, and then took off her apron and sleeves, throwing them aside.

"Qian, listen to me, we won't learn those things. My family has only had one son for four generations, so leave your brother a way out."

"snort!"

The girl angrily shook off his hand. "You jerk! I was just thinking about the future!"

Seemingly seeing through her thoughts, Zhuang Huai'an smiled and said gently, "Everyone has their own area of ​​expertise. You just need to choose the direction you like and work hard in it. You don't need to be fixated on things like cooking or cleaning."

"Alright then." Liu Yifei was all smiles again. Cooking was harder than practicing a sword technique; it was simply unsolvable.

...

After lunch, the two went into the study. Liu Yifei brewed him a pot of hot tea and then casually picked up a book and sat back on the chaise lounge to read.

Zhuang Huai'an was reviewing various work emails.

Yesterday, CCTV compiled the annual viewership rankings of the top 20 by averaging the data from two major media outlets: CSM Media Research and Nielsen TV.

TV dramas produced by 91 Company were all on the list.

I originally thought that "Chinese Paladin" would be the king of dramas of the year, after all, the finale's viewership rating of over 16 was truly amazing.

Unfortunately, in December, an unexpected enemy appeared: the phenomenal drama "Happy Planet" dominated the ratings with an average of 17 and a peak of over 20. You guys are all no match!

There's no way around it, this is pure dimensional reduction attack. After all, who didn't fantasize about having a happiness key when they were a kid, and being able to travel to a happy planet just by pressing the enter key?

Goodbye, Mom, I'm setting sail tonight!

In the top ten list, Legend of Sword and Fairy ranked second, followed closely by Gazi, and fourth place went to the epic masterpiece that is hailed as being on par with Faust – Ma Dashuai!

Faust has also improved and can be compared to "Ma Dashuai".

The greatness of this drama needs no further explanation. To put it bluntly, if it weren't for the fact that the old Goethe's name and works both contain the character "德" (de, meaning virtue) from Brother Biao, he really wouldn't deserve to be on par with "Ma Dashuai".

"Water Moon Cave" took fifth place, while the expedient Youzhou Grand Commander Di Pangpang ushered in an era of ancient costume detective stories, securing sixth place. The third installment of the Ji Xiaolan Iron Triangle series maintained its strong momentum, achieving seventh place.

CCTV's major drama "Genghis Khan" ranked eighth, Chen Daomin and Jiang Wenli's "Chinese-Style Divorce" ranked ninth, and the Yongle Emperor Xueqi's military period drama "Military Secrets" firmly held onto tenth place.

Among the top 20 are also films invested by 91 Company, such as "Liancheng Jue" and "Snowflake Goddess Dragon", "Plum Blossom Files" (Zhou Jie's childhood nightmare), "The Empress of China" (Zhao Wenzhuo and Jia Jingwen), "Lucky Star Pigsy" (Hai Bo), "Red Poppy" (Chen Baoguo), and so on.

Just by looking at these lists, you can tell how well today's audiences are eating!

Although movies are considered more sophisticated, television dramas still dominate the mainstream.

They're all incredibly skilled fighters!

The music market is a battleground of titans.

Liu Yifei's debut album "Little" sold 19 million copies across Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, earning it a 190-times platinum certification according to the record company's standards. Despite this success, it didn't even crack the top five best-selling Chinese albums of the year, remaining at number seven.

As expected, Jay Chou's "Seven Mile Fragrance" won the championship with 350 million copies sold. Dao Lang's "The First Snow of 2002" came in second, and its popularity is beyond doubt, selling a phenomenal 270 million copies in mainland China.

Jolin Tsai's "Castle" ranked third with 230 million copies sold, while Snake Band's "Fantasy Journey" hit song "Persian Cat" became a hit, ranking fourth with 220 million copies sold.

The band F.I.R., still around, saw its self-titled album sell 210 million copies, maintaining its fifth position.

Sun Yanzi's "Stefannie" has swept the Southeast Asian market, selling 200 million copies and ranking sixth.

Following "Little" was Snake Band's "Encore," released at the end of the year. The two songs "Migratory Bird" and "Painful" topped the charts, continuing to reap year-end sales.

There are also 5566's "Beloved", Wang Erge's "Incredible", JJ Lin Junjie's "Second Heaven", Mayday's "God's Child is Dancing", Sweetheart Queen Wang Xinlin's "Love You", and so on.

In addition, riding the wave of the hit TV drama OSTs, Zhang Liangying's album sales have just surpassed one million, showing the potential to become a new generation of mainland pop diva.

A hundred flowers bloom across the mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, one act ends and another begins.

It can only be said that only music and TV dramas have not disappointed those born in the 80s and 90s.

After closing his email, Zhuang Huai'an rubbed his temples, turned to look at the heavy snow outside the window, and a classic scene suddenly flashed through his mind.

When the first snow falls, fried chicken and beer are the perfect combination!

To be fair, the country's film and television productions are indeed impressive, with a constant stream of creative ideas. They can use the same template for idol dramas for decades.

It's comparable to Guo Degang's comedy sketches.

In terms of the diversity of TV drama genres, TVB is actually more impressive, having filmed almost every profession and social class.

Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, the only truly well-made drama is last year's hit "War and Beauty," a phenomenal series that pioneered the palace intrigue genre.

However, it has not yet been introduced to the mainland, otherwise it would easily be in the top ten list.

Tsk, how about making a version of "Empresses in the Palace"?

Shall we also grab a share of the traffic?