Chapter 268 Huayi’s Response

After the nude photo scandal was handled low-key for several years, coupled with the fact that many "clearly priced" incidents involving female stars have been exposed in the circle, apart from people sharing photos with each other online, there is not as much attention paid to the parties involved as before.

With the support of Emperor Entertainment Group, Zhang Baizhi also appeared at the promotional event for the movie "The Happy Event 2011" recently, and it was confirmed on the spot that he would play a role.

The film is confirmed to be released during the Lunar New Year holiday, and it is also Zhang Baizhi's first performance in recent years.

"Is this a preparation for a comeback?"

Some netizens speculated.

"Another crappy movie made by a Hong Kong director."

Speaking of the producer of the "Happy Events" series, Wong Pak Ming, he was also a talented person when he was young. He wrote the literary classic "The Wrong Car" in two days, and it only took him a week to create the Hong Kong blockbuster "Best Partner".

However, in recent years, it seems that he has run out of ideas and has been just making bad movies to make money. The currently released movies are "All's Well, Ends Well 2009", "Flower Field Wedding 2010", and the upcoming "The Best Wedding 2011", as well as the series "Eight Stars Reporting Joy 2012", "Hundred Star Hotel 2013", "Six Happy Events 2014" and so on which will be filmed in the original time and space. They all have familiar formulas and familiar tastes, and each movie has a low rating, which shows that his integrity and talent have been completely lost.

Lu Zheng and Jing Tian stayed on the set of "2012" for two days, and then left on the pretext of filming.

For the cooperation reached by both parties, Xingguang Canlan will send someone to the company to sign the specific contract, which also involves some specific details.

For example, the cost, production time requirements, production effect level and other aspects cannot be explained in a few words.

Lu Zheng acted quickly. Just as he left, Song Ge called.

"Boss Lu sent someone over here and selected the best grade."

"Okay, be more careful when making it. They have plenty of money, so we can't just do it half-heartedly."

"Okay, I'll assign the best team to take charge."

The forums and meetings during the Shanghai Film Festival had a significant impact on the Shanghai film industry. You know, at this stage, the domestic film and television industry is very "admiring" of Hollywood's style.

In the minds of audiences and movie fans, Hollywood imported blockbusters are better than domestic films, and they surpass them in all aspects.

After reaching cooperation with Shanghai Film Group, it instantly attracted a lot of attention.

To make matters worse, as Zhou Xun and Huang Xiaoming's contracts with Huayi Company are about to expire, their family members will leave Huayi, either to change jobs or to start their own businesses.

Several consecutive events led to a serious drop in Huayi’s stock price.

But the two Wangs did not sit idly by. Huayi Company’s approach to dealing with falling stock prices was very simple.

On the one hand, it vigorously promotes the upcoming "Aftershock".

"The estimated box office for the film is over 500 million RMB, and Huayi's production will once again break the domestic box office record."

"The relevant departments have seen the finished film and are very supportive of its release. They do not rule out organizing government personnel to go to the cinema to watch the film."

"We should not forget history. I believe this movie will resonate with everyone."

Reports of reporters interviewing Feng Xiaogang were posted online continuously.

On the other hand, Huayi Company urgently announced that it would prepare for "If You Are the One 2" in advance.

“Preparations are expected to begin this month and filming will start in the second half of the year.”

"In addition to Ge You and Shu Qi, we will also invite Sun Honglei, Yao Chen and others to join."

Finally, it was reported that Huayi is about to introduce a group of South Korean artists, including Song Hye Kyo, Jun Ji Hyun, Lee Da Hae and other popular South Korean stars.

Huayi Company handled the public relations hype very well. As soon as some news were announced, the stock price began to rise.

The market is indeed very realistic. In just a few days, Huayi's stock price has recovered to its previous level and is rising sharply.

However, the joke caused by the incident did provide a living for the reporters in the circle and added a lot of jokes.

"Director Gu, the premiere of Love Is Not Blind has been scheduled. Do you and Yifei have time to come?"

After playing for a few days, Su Chang left the crew. The movie has now entered the final promotion period.

After discussing with Lu Yang, Song Ge decided to hold a premiere, and it would be best if they could invite some big-name star directors to attend.

There is no way around it. Chinese people recognize this. Even if a movie is a bad one, it can still make a lot of money by inviting big-name stars to promote it.

"When is the premiere scheduled?"

Gu Wei needs to confirm the time before making a decision.

"On the 23rd, two days in advance."

"It's the 23rd! I guess I can't go. Yifei should be able to go, as her part is basically over."

After returning to China, the entire filming time was delayed for more than a week. The time for the actors to sign the contract is getting closer and closer, and the crew is currently in an extremely busy stage.

"Okay, as long as Yifei can come over, I'll talk to Lu Yang."

Compared with the premiere of "Love Is Not Blind", the progress of the filming of "2012" is more important. After all, the difference in size between the two is too big.

I believe that once the news of Liu Yifei's attendance is announced, it will also attract a group of fans.

...

On the other hand, after the casting audition for Ning Hao's "The Golden Robbery", Tong Liya finally won the female lead.

Just like when the male lead was confirmed, after Ning Hao announced the cast, netizens were the first to dig out Tong Liya’s detailed information.

"There are more and more actors who started out as dancers and have crossed over to other fields, but they are very beautiful."

"I just finished filming a TV series produced by Xingchen Films, and signed with Shiba Culture Company. Now I am playing the leading role in a movie directed by Ning Hao."

"Haha, you didn't really decide this for my sake, did you?"

After seeing the news, Gu Wei laughed and couldn't help but make a joke.

"That's not the case. The audition went well. Besides, the heroine doesn't have too many scenes in this movie."

"That's true."

Hearing this, Gu Wei nodded. Ning Hao's style has always been like this. The movie is about a male protagonist, and sometimes the heroine's role may not be as exciting as that of the supporting role.

“When will it start?”

“It is expected to be released in the second half of the year. Preparations are underway and filming locations are being selected.

By the way, Lu Yang called me and asked me to be sure to attend the premiere."

"He's a little bit lacking in confidence. It would be good if you could go and show your support. Yifei will also go then."

"Okay, my wife will come with me. She was talking about Yifei the other day."

As the two chatted, they talked about Xing Aina's role as the producer of "The Golden Robbery".

"To be honest, Yifei will definitely follow this path in the future. This is the standard for a big director's wife."

"Wait a little longer. Yifei's mind is full of thoughts about making movies and winning awards right now. She's not thinking about this. I'll talk to her about it in two years."

...

After signing the contract with Xingguang Canlan, Lu Zheng announced it through the media.

As soon as the deposit was received, the internet was full of topics about special effects.

"Xingguang Canlan Company has reached a cooperation with Xingchen Films, which will be responsible for all special effects production of the movie "Warring States"."

"Spend tens of millions to create a special effects blockbuster that belongs to China."

"My Beautiful Boss is about to be released, Jing Tian will play himself."

"Director Gu Wei is very optimistic about the movie "Warring States" and pays special attention to post-production."

Lu Zheng acted quickly, and the news instantly covered the headlines of major media outlets.

"The company has sent a team to the crew of "Warring States" to tailor the production according to the content of the film."

After the official Xingchen Film and Television website announced this, the film, which is still in production, has received a lot of attention. "Uncle Lu, is it okay to say this? Will Director Gu have any objections?"

In the crew, Jing Tian saw the news after the filming was finished and said with some concern that, after all, judging from the online reports, it was just trying to take advantage of the popularity of Xingchen Films and director Gu Wei.

"It's okay. I went to visit the set a while ago and mentioned to Director Gu that I would promote this matter, and he didn't object."

Lu Zheng looked at Jing Tian and said that he would definitely not let the media report it like this without Gu Wei's consent. If he angered Gu Wei, it would be a loss.

Generally speaking, the special effects shots of a special effects blockbuster are often subcontracted to multiple companies.

One is to meet the schedule, and the other is to reduce costs.

Because the special effects shots in the entire film are divided into different levels of difficulty.

Although some special effects companies are small in scale and their technology is not very advanced, they can still handle some small shots. At the same time, their quotations are not too high, which will make producers feel very tempted.

But Lu Zheng chose to give it all to Xingchen Films just to gain fame, which is equivalent to paying for publicity in disguise.

After all, with Xingchen Film and Television and Director Gu, there will definitely be a lot of people who choose to go to the cinema.

...

Where there are people, there are grudges; where there are grudges, there is the world, and the entertainment industry is no exception.

The fundamental reason why Zhou Xingchi is criticized in Hong Kong Island is that he is unwilling to follow the trend of many Hong Kong filmmakers moving north together.

Otherwise, no matter how bad his temper is or how demanding his requirements are when filming a movie, there are people who are willing to kneel down and call him dad.

In addition to the director, another important part of a film is distribution.

In the current domestic film market, there are only a few powerful distribution companies, including China Film, Huayi, Bona Film, Guangguang…

As soon as Feng Xiaogang’s criticism ended, Hong Kong Island turned its attention to several distribution companies in the mainland.

They accused the other party of taking the money but not putting much effort into promotion, which resulted in the box office failure of most of the recently released movies.

Due to excessive losses, many investors are no longer willing to invest in films directed by Hong Kong directors and no longer want to invite Hong Kong stars to star in them.

This group of people cannot blame the investors, so they can only focus their fire on the issuing company.

In the past two years, Hong Kong directors have moved north and entered the mainland on a large scale, but most of the films made by this group of people are bad.

Audiences and movie fans have gone from initially being expectant, to now gradually developing a headache when hearing about Hong Kong movies.

If the audiences don't buy into the film, the box office will definitely be bad. If the box office is bad, the producers will be the ones who suffer the most in the end. After all, the pay for hiring Hong Kong people to make a movie will not be low, and the mainland film and television companies will make the money by distributing the film overseas.

In the end, only the producers and investment companies were left hurt.

This has also led to companies in the industry becoming increasingly dissatisfied with Hong Kong directors and artistes. The conflicts between the two are slowly accumulating and will sooner or later erupt.

Now because there is still profit to be made, both sides can still hold their noses and tolerate each other.

Both sides are still restrained at the moment, and only accused each other a few times when facing interviews with reporters.

In the first half of this year, the total box office of the domestic film market reached 40 billion, and more than 20 films will be released throughout June.

According to industry insiders, the box office revenue in the first half of the year is expected to exceed 50 billion.

By the end of the year, the total box office revenue may exceed 100 billion, setting a new record in history.

This also gave other film companies in the industry hope, and they couldn't help but take action, planning to make a big profit in the second half of the year.

The movie "New Shaolin Temple", which has an investment of 200 million yuan and stars many stars, held a press conference in the capital and announced that it will be released during the Spring Festival.

Liu Dehua, Xie Chuzi, Fan Binbin and others attended the event and began to promote the movie.

"Don't you have to go?"

In the crew, Gu Wei asked Cheng Long and Wu Jing who had just finished filming.

He just saw the news online today, and was a little surprised that Cheng Long and Wu Jing didn't ask for leave from him to go there.

"There are a lot of people going, they don't need me, the most important thing is to film quickly."

Cheng Long said with a smile.

"It doesn't matter if I go or not, I'm not the lead actor."

As for Wu Jing, he didn't take this matter to heart. He knew which of the two was more important.

Well, I didn’t realize they are both so dedicated.

"Under the Hawthorn Tree", which started filming in March this year and took more than three months to shoot, has officially been announced to be completed.

Before the post-production of the film even started, Zhang Weiping of New Picture started to speak out.

“The film’s post-production is expected to take about three months, and we have decided to release it in mid-September.”

"Art films are what Yimou is best at, and we are not afraid of any of our competitors at the same time."

Zhang Weiping said confidently.

"'The Empire Strikes Back' is willing to compete fairly with other films released at the same time. Whether a film is good or not is not up to you, but depends on the audience's evaluation."

On the other hand, "The Empire Strikes Back" produced by Huayi Company also made its announcement.

"Two big directors are arguing with each other. It's going to be a good show to watch."

"I am optimistic about Under the Hawthorn Tree. Zhang Yimou has a say in the art film field."

"Director Xu Ke's work is still worth watching. I am looking forward to it."

The film companies in the industry are booming, constantly talking about the growth rate of domestic box office, and their words sound like the situation is very good.

But netizens don't buy it.

"Don't you even look at what movies have the highest box office? How many of them are domestic films?"

"Exactly. Imported films account for more than half of the box office, and they still have the nerve to brag about it."

Even though netizens cursed, it did not affect the lively film industry at all. The General Administration announced the film filing situation in the first half of this year, with 189 films in May alone.

Several of these movies are related to the currently ongoing World Cup.

At the same time, many people in the real estate industry gave up investing in real estate and turned to the film industry.

A large amount of "hot money" has poured into the entertainment industry, stimulating the development of the film industry.

"More money is a good thing, but too much money can also easily lead to abnormal prosperity in the industry."

At the shooting site, Gu Wei said something that made others a little confused.

Gu Wei smiled and didn't explain. In fact, June is usually the off-season for movies and there are no holidays.

In the past, mainstream movies would be released most of the time in June.

However, the situation in June this year was different from previous years. The film industry was in a chaotic state. A total of 6 new films were released throughout the month, an average of one new film per day. At most, four films were released in one day, which greatly shortened the life cycle of each film.

Even if we follow the best-case scenario, the domestic capacity this year is only 100 billion, so there is no room for such a fuss.

Blockbuster movies are making money, smaller films are losing money, and many film companies in the industry are facing bankruptcy.

...

Amid the excitement, Song Ge and Lu Yang began to prepare for the premiere of Love Is Not Blind.

The first domestically produced film produced by Xingchen Film and Television Company this year is about to be released.

Other companies in the industry are very interested in how much box office this low-budget movie can achieve.

(End of this chapter)