Chapter 22 Attending the Premiere

In early 1995, Jackie Chan's "Rumble in the Bronx" was the first to be released in mainland China, and it was directly promoted as a New Year's film. The final effect was very good, and it earned 3500 million in box office revenue in mainland China.

This is the biggest shock and stimulation for mainland cinemas, which were previously closed from New Year's Eve to the second day of the Lunar New Year, and the deserted and sluggish mainland film industry.

In 1997, Zhang Heping, then general manager of BJ Forbidden City Pictures, decided to plan the mainland's own Lunar New Year film after discussing with Han Sanping and Gao Jun.

After meetings and consultations, a very important concept for the development of domestic films was finally determined: the mainland Lunar New Year holiday season, which was set to be around New Year's Day.

That year, there was a Lunar New Year film "Party A and Party B" which cost only 400 million yuan to make. After its release on December 1997, 12, it achieved a box office of 24 million yuan, surpassing Jackie Chan's "Rumble in the Bronx". The film also set the highest box office record for domestic films in 3600.

It triggered a storm of domestic New Year movies, and both the word of mouth and the box office made those who made the decision at that time very excited.

Since then, Feng Xiaogang started his own era of "Feng-style" New Year films.

On the 15th, the premiere of "Big Shot" was held in Beijing.

At present, the best private enterprise in the film and television industry is undoubtedly Huayi Company. Relying on Wang Jinghua and Feng Xiaogang, Huayi's performance is booming and it is unparalleled in the limelight.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the first screening of "Big Shot" was held at the Youth Palace.

Gu Wei followed Han Sanping to the Nationalities Palace Theater to attend the premiere in the evening.

When we got there, we saw it was star-studded, just like the red carpet at a film festival.

Almost all the staff of Huayi Company were present, and there were even more media and reporters from major Internet portals.

As soon as the two got out of the car, reporters surrounded them. Seeing this, the security personnel nearby hurried over to stop them. Han Sanping waved his hand, faced the reporters, and answered a few questions.

"Director Gu, I heard that you were banned from directing for five years by the relevant authorities. What do you want to say about this?"

"Director Gu, regarding your ban on directing..."

Gu Wei looked at the reporter in front of him speechlessly.

Without answering questions about the ban on directing, and just saying a few words wishing the movie a big hit, Gu Wei and Han Sanping entered the venue.

"You regret it now, right? You made me act without thinking."

After entering the venue, Han Sanping joked.

"Mr. Han, can we not mention this matter? Since we have done it, we will not regret it." Gu Wei said in a firm tone.

As they were talking, they saw Mr. Wang from Huayi. “President Han, Director Gu, welcome, welcome. Please come in.”

After saying hello, Gu Wei and others continued to walk inside.

When I entered the hall, I saw quite a lot of celebrities and artists.

The main actors such as Ge You, Rosamund Kwan and Yingda are all there.

Also present were Carina Lau, Chen Kaige and his wife, Liu Huan, Wang Zhiwen and others.

As soon as Gu Wei and Ge You finished greeting each other, Feng Xiaogang came over and invited them to take a seat.

After a while, the premiere officially began, and the first thing that happened was the screening of the movie.

Ge You’s appearance brings with it a comedic effect.

Taylor, an internationally renowned director, chose China as the location for the filming of his new film.

Unexpectedly, Taylor fell ill during filming. Seeing that the big star was on the verge of death, everyone decided to organize a decent funeral for him.

Therefore, Youyou, a laid-off photographer from the film studio, and Louis Wang, a dull and pedantic businessman, took on the job. For a time, the funeral of the big shot became the focus of all media attention, and no one was willing to miss such a great business opportunity.

This made Youyou very worried, and even more worried was the big shot's assistant Lucy. Just when the funeral preparations were in full swing, something unbelievable happened.

All in all, the movie is of high quality, has many interesting jokes, and Ge You's performance also adds a lot to the movie.

As the movie ended, applause broke out in the venue.

It was time for reporters to ask questions, and the main creative staff of the crew took turns speaking.

"It is my honor to work with Director Feng. The interview lasted until about 1 a.m. the night before. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep because of the premiere, which is why I'm late today."

"Haha."

As soon as Ge You finished speaking, laughter broke out from the audience.

After the reporters had interviewed the person, the microphone finally returned to Feng Xiaogang.

"Director Feng, does the investment cost of 300 million US dollars feel stressful to you?" a reporter asked.

"There will be some pressure, but pressure is good for us creators. If there is no piracy, I believe this film will have a box office of 5 million. If there is piracy, it will not even have 1000 million. I heard that there are pirated VCDs in Northeast China. I think it's really fast. But I also tell you that in order to prevent piracy, we have also kept a trick to make sure that the pirated copies are different from the ones we released."

Feng Xiaogang said directly on the stage.

Piracy is indeed rampant in China. I heard that a lot of it comes directly from the film studios. However, there is no way to solve this problem for the time being. It is also the result of the lack of regulations in the industry. After hearing Feng Xiaogang's answer, Gu Wei thought silently in his heart.

The reporter then asked a few more questions, and Feng Xiaogang answered them one by one.

After the reporters finished asking questions, it was time for the cocktail party.

Gu Wei, Han Sanping, Feng Xiaogang and others got together to chat.

Seeing this, other celebrity artists nearby did not dare to come over and disturb them. This shows that there are clear hierarchies in this circle.

At this time, Mr. Wang came over with two people behind him.

"Director Gu."

"Mr. Wang."

"This is an artist under my company, Li Bingbing," Mr. Wang said directly.

"Hello, Director Gu."

Li Bingbing said with a smile.

"If there is a suitable role in Director Gu's future films, please give Bingbing a chance."

"Mr. Wang, you've got the wrong person. I've just been banned from directing, and I don't know when my next movie will be released, haha."

Gu Wei said jokingly.

"Director Gu, you're joking. You're still so young, and a few years will pass in the blink of an eye." They chatted for a while, and the artists next to them saw this and their faces were filled with envy.

"Director Feng, your movie is of good quality. I think it will definitely do well at the box office."

"Haha, thank you Director Gu for your good words."

Feng Xiaogang grinned and laughed out loud.

After a few words, Mr. Wang took Li Bingbing away, and Feng Xiaogang was busy greeting other people.

Seeing that there was no one around, Han Sanping said: "There is some progress on the matter you asked about a few days ago. Let's arrange a time and I'll take you to meet them."

Hearing this, Gu Wei was shocked.

"Okay, Mr. Han, I've been bothering you a lot during this period."

"Once you really get there, you have to control your temper. If something happens, no one will be able to help you, unlike in China," Han Sanping said with a serious expression on his face.

"I understand, Mr. Han."

Gu Wei was also a little touched, thinking that Lao Han was an honest man, and he would take him with him if he found a suitable movie after he had established himself there.

The premiere of "Big Shot" was very successful, with online and offline media rushing to report on it.

The film received mostly positive reviews from film critics.

The style of the film has also been recognized by the audience and it is now waiting for its release.

For the dinner party in the evening, Gu Wei went straight home and did not attend. The group of people got together and did nothing but flatter and fawn on each other.

The next day, Gu Wei came to the editing room of China Film Group Corporation, and the finished film and post-production special effects of "Time and Space Lovers" had been completed.

The staff of China Film Group called him to come and see the effect.

In the screening room, Gu Wei looked at the images on the screen and nodded from time to time.

The employees of China Film Group are indeed talented, and Gu Wei is very satisfied with the film's editing and post-production.

After watching the finished film, I raised a few small issues with the sound effects.

Then he asked the person in charge of the editing room to help compile a list of film editors, and Gu Wei would transfer the promised bonus to their accounts tomorrow.

The scene suddenly burst into cheers.

Then we went to Mr. Han’s office.

"Director Han, I've seen the finished film. It's very good and has met the conditions for release."

When they arrived at the office, Gu Wei said directly.

"I called you here because of the release of the film."

"China Film Group plans to release this movie in multiple regions. Do you have any suggestions?" Han Sanping looked at him and asked.

"I think there is no problem with distributing it in multiple regions. It is a fine product both in terms of the subject matter and quality of the film."

"It would be best if we could release it in North America. We should also try to get our film out there."

Han Sanping ignored his little thoughts.

"The North American distribution will be handed over to Warner Bros. The group also made a decision on this a few days ago."

"The country just joined the WTO a few days ago, and starting this year, foreign films will be imported on a large scale."

"But what you said does make sense. We should indeed go out for a walk," Han Sanping said, leaning back in his chair.

"Regarding the distribution in Hong Kong Island, Emperor Entertainment Group will probably contact you in the next few days."

Han Sanping reminded him that Yang Shoucheng had actually contacted him about this project, but after all, this movie was shot with the hard work of Gu Wei, so he suggested that Yang Shoucheng contact Gu Wei directly so that both parties could get to know each other.

"No problem, I'll listen to you, Mr. Han."

Gu Wei agreed immediately, and he could guess what Han Sanping meant.

"Boss Han, it's nothing, I'll go back now."

"Wait a minute, I'll make an appointment with Warner to meet in two days, and you can come with me then," Han Sanping added.

"Okay, Director Han."

After saying that, he left the office directly.

Before leaving China Film, Gu Wei went to the editing room again and took away a list of film editors and their bank card information.

After returning to the company, Gu Wei called Wang Chen and asked him to follow the list in his hand.
"This is the list of people involved in the film editing at China Film. Transfer 10,000 yuan to each person."

"Boss, are everyone the same?" Wang Chen asked.

"Well, the two team leaders will get an extra 5,000, and the rest will get the same."

Gu Wei gave the order while sitting on a chair.

"Okay, boss. I'll ask the finance department to do it right away."

"Also, send New Year's gifts to each person's home according to their address."

Gu Wei added.

"Ok."

Seeing Wang Chen leave, Gu Wei picked up the phone again and called Reid.

I received a reply shortly after. The script registration went smoothly. None of the scripts were rejected due to identical content. All of them had passed the review of the Hollywood Script Association.

Gu Wei, sitting on a chair, thought about the meeting with Warner in two days. He reached out and took out a document from the cabinet. This was also one of the scripts he asked Reid to register.

Gu Wei opened the script and saw the title of the script written on the first page, "The Accidental Manslaughter".

This Indian film was released in 2015 with an investment cost of 4500 million rupees, which is only 54 US dollars.

Gu Wei chose this movie because of its low production cost, short shooting time, and simple post-production. It is a typical example of a small investment with a big return.

(End of this chapter)