Chapter 206 Seminar

The film "Mystery of the Phantom Flame" (formerly known as "Detective Dee"), invested by Huayi Company, recently started shooting in Hengdian.

This film is director Tsui Hark's return to martial arts films after a five-year hiatus since "Seven Swords". This is also the first time that Andy Lau has appeared in a Tsui Hark film since his debut.

According to producer Nansun Shi, the screenwriter of "The Mystery of the Phantom Flame" is Chen Guofu, the director of "The Message", and the film will be in the style of a costume detective suspense.

In the film, Liu Dehua plays the famous Tang Dynasty prime minister and super detective Di Renjie, Liu Jialing plays Wu Zetian, and Shangguan Wan'er, a popular figure around Wu Zetian, is played by Li Binbin.

Also joining the film are Liang Jiahui and others. The film has a strong cast and a solid behind-the-scenes production team, which can be said to be a star-studded cast.

It can be seen that Huayi has put a lot of effort into its listing in the second half of the year. Wang Zhonglei also invited Gu Wei, but he directly refused.

"I just bought some stocks. I might as well spend this time with my little sister."

After hanging up the phone, Gu Wei muttered something.

"The Disguiser" really became a hit. After it was broadcast on satellite TV in April this year, the "small eyes + big mouth" combination of Sun Honglei and Yao Chen became all the rage.

Whether it is the emotional entanglements among the four corners of the play or the intrigues of office politics, they are all addictive. Even the villains Li Ya, Xie Ruolin, Lu Qiaoshan, and Stationmaster Wu are talked about by fans.

Golden sentences such as "There is a kind of failure called occupation, and there is a kind of victory called retreat" are regarded as classics.

The drama not only made almost all the actors who participated in it popular, but its greater significance lies in that it led to the popularity of a large number of spy war dramas, whether it was the later "Underground and Above Ground", "Spy Romance", "Cold Arrow" or "Sword Spy". As long as a spy war drama was staged, it would be embarrassed to promote it if the promotional slogan did not have some connection with "The Disguiser".

For a time, the screen was filled with fake couples, real revolutions, or handsome men and beautiful women's tricks. The same routine made the audience tired of watching, but it did not prevent similar dramas from continuing to appear.

Although it is a bit boring to watch, it does not diminish the audience's love for "Insidious" at all. Classics are classics.

From April to May, there were no major events in the circle, but there were many minor ones. The "XD Gate" and "Car Accident Gate" were reported by media reporters one after another.

...

The box office of "A Dog's Purpose" officially settled at 278 million, failing to break 300 million, which made Wang Changtian of Guangxian a little regretful.

There had to be a celebration banquet, and after Guangguang selected a location, Gu Wei took the main creative team there.

There wasn't anything fancy, just smashing some ice cubes with box office numbers on them, answering some questions from reporters, and then it was time for the cocktail party.

"Director Gu, I heard you are preparing for your next movie?"

Ye Ning from Wanda came up to him with a glass of wine and asked, accompanied by Lu Zheng and Jing Tian.

"I didn't shoot the company's movie."

"Painted Skin 2?"

Hearing this, Jing Tian's eyes lit up and he interrupted and asked.

This kind of movie with a box office of over 100 million yuan will obviously improve the actor's status. Thanks to the movie "The Forbidden Kingdom", Jing Tian was successfully promoted to the second-tier line and became well-known to domestic audiences.

“Well, it is expected to start in the second half of the year.”

"Director Gu, what is the cost this time? Wanda can invest in any amount."

Ye Ning simply ignored Jing Tian next to him and started asking about investment.

"Director Gu, can you give Tiantian a chance?"

However, Lu Zheng on the side rolled his eyes and mentioned the role, and Jing Tian's eyes were instantly filled with anticipation.

"Director Wu Ershan was the one doing the casting this time. I didn't participate. You can talk to him."

After being repeatedly questioned by several people, Gu Wei passed the problem to Wuershan and asked him to solve it.

They chatted for a while, and Lu Zheng took Jingtian to the side to find Wuershan. The two sides talked and laughed, and Wuershan glanced at Gu Wei from time to time.

"Mr. Ye, how is the progress of Wanda's 3D cinema construction?"

Ye Ning was a little confused by the question. Why did they start talking about this? But after a pause, he said, "In 07, we built the largest 3D screening room in China, which can accommodate more than viewers. In the past two years, the number of Wanda's screens has increased rapidly."

"Okay, let's have a meeting together in a couple of days, and Mr. Ye can come over then."

"no problem."

Ye Ning suppressed the doubts in his heart and didn't ask any more questions.

After the celebration party, Gu Wei went straight back to the company and asked Wang Chen to prepare a future development plan.

.........

At the end of May, Gu Wei invited the CEOs of major domestic film and television companies to the company, and everyone gathered together for a seminar.

At ten o'clock in the morning, representatives from various companies arrived, including Han Sanping from China Film, Ye Ning from Wanda, Wang Changtian from Guangxian, Wang Zhonglei from Huayi, and Yu Dong from Bona Film Group. These people represented some of the biggest companies in the country.

After everyone took their seats in the conference room, the meeting host, Wang Chen, made a few simple polite remarks and then got down to business.

"You are all the heads of famous and powerful domestic companies. This time I came here to introduce to you the development plan of Xingchen Film and Television Company in the next few years."

The people present were a little confused. What does your company's development plan have to do with us? But they still listened patiently.

After a pause, Wang Chen continued, "Director Gu is planning to launch a Hollywood blockbuster at the end of the year, with an estimated investment of 2.5 million US dollars, excluding publicity and promotion costs." "Hiss."

As soon as these words came out, the faces of several CEOs present changed. 2.5 million US dollars? That doesn't even include the publicity and promotion costs. According to the publicity and promotion costs in North America, the total cost is estimated to be 3 million US dollars, which is more than billion RMB.

How much box office revenue will be needed to break even?

"Everyone, this is just a plan for a movie."

"besides?"

Everyone felt that the trip was worthwhile. Regardless of whether they could participate in the investment or not, at least they would have something to brag about after they got out.

"According to the growth rate of the domestic film industry in the past two years, if nothing unexpected happens, the total domestic box office will exceed 10 billion next year."

After Wang Chen finished speaking, he glanced at Han Sanping who was sitting in his seat.

"Yes."

China Film Group is responsible for national data, and this is theoretically true.

"Therefore, Xingchen Films has decided to invest about 20 billion yuan in the next three to five years to shoot a science fiction blockbuster that belongs to China."

"Red Cliff"? Everyone couldn't help but think of this movie.

It’s not that there are no blockbusters in China. Last year’s “Red Cliff” was said to have an investment of 6 million yuan, which is almost equivalent to the investment level of Hollywood A-level productions.

The corresponding cast is also very strong. Although its reputation in China has collapsed, its box office in Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia is still good.

As for the big productions after "Red Cliff", there are quite a few, such as "Curse of the Golden Flower", "The Warlords", "The Banquet", etc.

Some of these films have an investment of over 300 million yuan, while others have an investment of 100 or 200 million yuan. Basically, their selling points are big-name stars and grand scenes.

The three movies that Wang Chen just mentioned had an investment of 2 billion yuan, which means each movie would be worth more than 600 million yuan, which is not unacceptable.

"Manager Wang, no one can predict the future, so let's talk about Director Gu's Hollywood blockbuster."

Wang Zhonglei did not refute, but instead asked directly about the film plans over there.

"The script from Hollywood is called 2012. I plan to start production at the end of this year. It is expected to be completed in about two years and released at the end of 11 at the latest."

"Is it the doomsday prophecy script that's very popular in North America?"

Wang Changtian asked, this script is very popular in North America, coupled with the gimmick of the Mayan prophecy, many people are talking about it online.

“Yes, this is it.”

"Director Gu, I have a question. What kind of domestic science fiction blockbuster is this? Is it an adaptation of an existing novel, or an original script?"

Ye Ning thought for a while and asked what was on his mind.

Hearing this, Gu Wei made a gesture to Wang Chen, and soon the other party took out a few books and placed them in front of everyone.

Han Sanping picked up the book and saw the big words "The Wandering Earth" on it.

"This novel is a novella written by Liu Cixin and was first published in the seventh issue of Science Fiction World in 2000.

The copyright has been acquired by our company, and the specific script is still being adapted."

Gu Wei took a sip of tea and continued:

"The book tells the story of a huge plan for Earth to escape from the solar system and head for a new home. The sun is about to be destroyed. The sun, which has been the spiritual pillar of mankind for countless years, has become a symbol of death and terror.

The huge Earth escape plan was implemented, but the ordinary-sized artificial environment that humans could create could not withstand the long escape journey. So humans had to install a huge Earth engine on one side of the Earth, turning the entire huge Earth environment into an immigrant ark, so as to escape the solar system and head to a new home..."

The company CEOs present had not read this book either, but listening to Gu Wei's narration, it turned out to be a good background story, which was enough to be adapted into a science fiction blockbuster.

"Haha, in the past it was the Americans who made movies about saving the earth and saving humanity. Now it's our turn. It feels pretty good."

"Haha, Mr. Han is right."

As a superior, Han Sanping accepted Gu Wei's plan very quickly. Besides, China Film Group was also looking forward to a large domestic production. He had talked with Gu Wei before, but the other party thought that the time was not right. Now that he brought it up, it was obvious that he had a comprehensive plan.

"This novel has a large readership around the world. With the added publicity and 3D special effects, it has a huge impact both in China and in Southeast Asia."

Wang Zhonglei said slowly with a sullen face: "Director Gu, we are only considering the Southeast Asian region, what about the North American market?"

Gu Wei smiled when he heard this, "This type of movie is not unique to Chinese IP. I believe it will also be very attractive to North American audiences."

Gu Wei was telling the truth. This was not a Chinese mythology film, nor was it like the later films such as Fengshen (Investiture of the Gods). For North Americans and Europeans, that type of film was indeed somewhat in conflict with their beliefs. It was not likely that they would understand it.

On the contrary, it is the straightforward science fiction blockbusters that can attract many science fiction fans.

A typical example is the later Indian movie "Baahubali", which had good pictures but performed poorly at the domestic box office. The main reason was that people in China were not really interested in Indian mythology.

...

(End of this chapter)