Chapter 432 Starting Ceremony

"The Wandering Earth" has been in preparation for so long that it can be said that it is about to start filming. The domestic actors have been basically selected. As for the Hollywood superstars who will make guest appearances, they will naturally find time to come when the filming starts.

As for the cameo scenes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Matt Damon and Will Smith, Gu Wei plans to concentrate on filming them during the premiere of Titanic.

Firstly, the other party has time to get together at this point in time.

Secondly, during the filming process, they can be invited to serve as guests at the premiere of "Titanic".

Thirdly, they also need to have enough time to produce the props and costumes needed for the scenes they are filming.

And one month from early March to early April is just enough.

The tentative date for the release of "The Wandering Earth" is March 3, and the venue will be the capital. The curtain of China's special effects science fiction films is finally about to be opened.

After Gu Wei and others finished discussing in the conference room, he continued to focus on the production of some special effects images, as well as the design of space suits and spacecraft models.

Song Ge found the publicity director of Xingchen Film and Television and asked them to carry out targeted hype regarding the "opening ceremony".

First of all, the specific time of the opening ceremony was announced in an official positive manner.

Then the publicity department of Xingchen Film and Television selected random audiences online and invited them to attend the premiere.

Finally, all fans who attend the event can get autographs from the main creators as a commemoration.

Needless to say, after these moves, more and more people online are paying attention to the opening ceremony, and fewer and fewer people are talking about the acquisition of Xingchen Film and Television Company.

On March 2012, 3, Gu Wei’s new film “The Wandering Earth” held a press conference at the China Film Digital Base.

Many good works show their extraordinary side when they are just created.

The same is true for The Wandering Earth. All the stars of the entire film were present at the press conference. For a time, the star-studded event was as bright as a small film festival.

As for the media, dozens of them, large and small, came. After all, the hottest entertainment information recently is all related to Xingchen Film and Television.

It can be said that unless there is a sudden news of a celebrity cheating, it is difficult for others to grab the headlines.

In such an unprecedented event, fans are naturally indispensable to support.

"The Wandering Earth" started filming with a high profile. The venue chosen can accommodate thousands of people, and it was actually filled with fans.

After all, for domestic movie fans who have suffered from "fake blockbusters", the two words "Gu Wei" are a golden signboard.

What's more, the plot of this movie is adapted from a famous domestic science fiction novel. The enthusiastic fans of the novel alone are enough to fill up the small venue.

Because they had to enter early, the enthusiastic fans who came in groups sat down and chatted in twos and threes.

"I'm so lucky. I'm in the front row. I can definitely see the faces of the creators clearly."

"I just want to see Huang Xiaoming clearly. I heard he doesn't have many parts. Oh, the director is too partial!" This is a conversation between two cute girls.

Someone in the back was discussing, "Quick, give me the binoculars. They'll be on stage soon. It's so exciting just thinking about it!" Another person took out a binoculars from his bag and said with a smile, "Are you that obsessed? Are you that obsessed?"

"Of course not. Those who come today are all big names."

At ten o'clock in the morning, Gu Wei and a group of main actors took the stage.

Hu Jun, Zhou Xun, Huang Xiaoming, Liu Ye, Yang Zi, Han Dongjun and other main creators were all dressed up carefully and looked full of energy.

Qin Hao, Chen Minghao, Yu Bo, Zhao Liying, Tong Liya, including Jing Tian who was filming "Special Identity", also came to the scene.

Because there were too many people, except for Gu Wei, Chen Guofu and Han Sanping, Song Ge, Ye Ning, Wang Changtian and others could only sit in the guest seats. After all, what the media and fans wanted to see were the star creators.

After the warm applause, Gu Wei said into the microphone: "Thank you all the media friends and enthusiastic audiences for taking the time out of your busy schedule to attend the launch conference of The Wandering Earth."

The applause rang out again, and it lasted for several dozen seconds before it stopped. Gu Wei continued, "Thanks to the support of the domestic audience, I have made a few domestic films before, but they were not blockbusters, so this time I want to make a real blockbuster."

The media and audience in the audience were a little confused when they heard this. What is a real blockbuster?

Aren’t special effects blockbusters just about big investments, big-name celebrities and artistes, and explosive visual effects?
Gu Wei continued, "The total budget for The Wandering Earth is over 1 billion RMB (promotional cost), which is close to 200 million USD, and is considered an A-level blockbuster even in Hollywood.

In addition to the investment cost, the film will also cost a huge amount of money for global publicity when it is released in the future, and the conservative estimate is no less than 50 million US dollars. "

The audience exclaimed that the media was excited. Although there had been a media conference before, the production cost had been announced at that time, but the subsequent publicity and promotion costs had not been announced.

Now, another 50 million US dollars has been added. Not to mention in China, even in Hollywood, there are not many blockbusters that can surpass this. This alone is worth writing about in detail, and it will take 1,800 words!

To be honest, many media people now prefer to keep an eye on Xingchen Film and Television Company. Basically, every time they face the media, they have selling points and explosive points. Especially recently, as long as there is news about Gu Wei, there is nothing that is not explosive. Now, hearing Gu Wei say this, the reporters on the scene are trembling with excitement.

Some people have already thought about it. After the interview is over, they will go back and write something casually, and it will be a popular interview transcript.

Unlike some other directors and producers, who say a lot of nonsense but nothing is eye-catching.

After Gu Wei finished his opening remarks, the session went straight to questions and reporters rushed to raise their hands.

"Hello, Director Gu, I am a reporter from Sina Entertainment. May I ask..."

Afterwards, the media asked Gu Wei some more questions, and then interviewed some popular artists.
"Hello, Mr. Hu Jun, I am a reporter from Penguin Entertainment. As the male lead of "The Wandering Earth", what do you want to say?"

"Yeah, I'm very happy. I was very nervous when I went for the audition. I didn't expect that after the audition, Director Gu would directly choose me on the spot. Now when I think about it, I still can't believe it."

Hu Jun was wearing a black suit and talking freely while holding the microphone.

But he didn't know that if he said this, many male stars would envy, hate and be jealous of him.

"Decide it on the spot? Haha, I'm so lucky."

"Hello, Mr. Zhou Xun, I am a reporter from Sohu Entertainment, may I ask..."

"Hello, Mr. Xiao Ming, I am a reporter from Penguin Entertainment..."

As the interview progressed, the opening ceremony was not completed until after eleven o'clock.

What was arranged later was the opening ceremony, the kind with worshipping gods and burning incense, the time was set at around 12 o'clock and the location was on the set.

There is an altar covered with red cloth, on which there are incense burners, suckling pigs, and fresh fruits. The camera next to it is also covered with red cloth.

After the press conference, Gu Wei and others led the main creators to the set, which is the largest studio in the China Film Digital Base.

The media reporters followed, and there were also enthusiastic fans. When the so-called auspicious time came, the main creators of the crew went to burn incense and worship the gods one by one.

There is no clear requirement on which god to worship in the opening ceremony. You can worship whatever you believe in, but most people worship Guan Gong. If you think about it carefully, there are indeed many industries in China that worship Guan Gong.

In many Hong Kong films in the past, there were scenes of gangsters and police worshipping Guan Gong together. It has to be said that Guan Erye’s business scope is quite wide.

Of course, worshiping Guan Gong is only the choice of most people. If you have other religious beliefs, you don’t have to burn incense, you can just stand aside and pray silently.

After the ceremony, actors who did not have any parts to play were allowed to stay away from the crew, media reporters were sent back with "travel expenses", enthusiastic audiences were evacuated, and the crew of "The Wandering Earth" officially started filming.

Because it was the first day and the opening ceremony took up too much time, Gu Wei simply turned on the monitor, took a random shot, and called it a day.

"OK, pass!"

A set of shots was actually completed in one take, which is a good sign for the movie "The Wandering Earth".

...

That afternoon, major entertainment media reported the news of the start of filming of the new movie "The Wandering Earth". Without a doubt, it instantly dominated the hot search headlines.

Penguin Entertainment: "It is reported that the new film "The Wandering Earth" by the famous director Gu Wei has started shooting at the China Film Digital Base, with a total investment of over 1 billion RMB, setting a new record for domestic film investment."

Entertainment Scene: "Undoubtedly the No. 1 domestic blockbuster, The Wandering Earth has set many domestic records."

"Director Gu Wei is the number one commercial director in China. The total investment in the entire film reached a staggering 1.2 billion yuan, not counting the subsequent publicity and promotion costs. There are more than 30 stars participating in the film. According to gossip, Hollywood superstars will make cameo appearances in the film. Even though it has not yet been released, this film has become the most anticipated film of the year, bar none."

As a program under Light Media, "Entertainment Live" naturally praised "The Wandering Earth".

Yuzhou.

The crew of "1942", Feng Xiaogang was shooting here at the time, and the producer Wang Zhonglei was also there.

The two of them had breakfast together early in the morning, and Feng Xiaogang said, "I hate these idiots the most. When they see you doing well, they swarm around you and flatter you like crazy. But when you are in bad shape, they are the ones who step on your heels the most."

"He is one of the world's top commercial film directors. With such a huge investment and a series of recent acquisitions, there is no one more famous than Gu Wei in the director circle. The media is also trying to attract attention." Wang Zhonglei said.

Feng Xiaogang sneered, "People are too impetuous nowadays. They always want to be the best in the country or the best in the world. Back then, we wanted our movie to be as big as the total box office of other small movies, but we didn't dare to say that."

"Well, yes, yes, the key is that the box office of Gu Wei's movies is really high." Thinking of the growing global box office of "2012", Wang Zhonglei was envious. It's over billion, how much can he make?
After hearing this, Feng Xiaogang was silent. He had no idea about the box office performance of "1942", so he didn't dare to brag about it in advance.

.........

(End of this chapter)