Chapter 471: Reaching the Summit
The Film Bureau announced the latest list of films that have passed review, and they are all films of considerable background.

Cheng Long's "The Twelve Chinese Zodiac Signs", Feng Xiaogang's "1942", Lu Chuan's "The Banquet", etc.

Previously, Feng Xiaogang said in an interview that his film would be released during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The film has just passed the review, and Huayi Company announced the specific release date immediately.

As for "Chinese Zodiac", Cheng Long asked Gu Wei for his opinion. At that time, Gu Wei said that it would be best to put it in the Spring Festival period. The competition in this year's Lunar New Year period was too fierce. Even with Cheng Long and Liu Yifei carrying the box office, there was no guarantee that the movie would be a big hit after its release.

But it seemed that the other party didn't listen.

“Haha, Director Gu, everyone thinks that only the Lunar New Year period can guarantee box office success, and the Spring Festival period is still a bit weak.

You know, this movie is not my decision alone.”

As expected, he is Big Brother Cheng. He called at a very timely moment. What could Gu Wei say when he saw this?

Even if Xingchen Film and Television Company has invested, its share is not large and it cannot make the final decision.

Later, Huayi Films announced: "After careful discussion and coordination by the company, Feng Xiaogang's film 11 will be released on November 29."

The movie "The Chinese Zodiac", written, directed and starred by Jackie Chan, has also been announced to be released on December 12.

For this purpose, Liu Yifei also posted a Weibo post as a bit of advance publicity.

Once the news was announced, the entire film industry was in an uproar.

Holy shit, all these blockbusters are stuffed in there? Is this year's Lunar New Year movie season going to let people live?

Especially since "1942" and "The Banquet" were released on the same day, many media went to interview the two directors.

The two sides started a fight, neither side gave in, and were sarcastic to each other.

Feng Xiaogang was confident: "1942 is the most attentive film I have made in recent years. It is far better than Earthquake and its box office will only be higher. Director Lu Chuan has no advantage in commercial films."

Lu Chuan also quickly hit back, "The box office figures haven't come out yet, no one can say for sure who will win. Why can't The Banquet beat 1942?"

"If some people don't book the entire theater, the outcome is still uncertain. The King's Feast is not afraid of challenges."

My goodness, Lu Chuan really went all out this time, revealing all the secrets blatantly, without giving Feng Xiaogang any face at all.

.........

It was approaching the end of June, and to the surprise of Gu Wei and Zhang Yimou, even with Director Tong's involvement, the script review had already taken more than a week, and there was still no concrete result.

It can be seen that there are also great differences and opinions within the General Administration.

On June 6th.

Gu Wei, Liu Yifei, Cheng Long, Huang Xiaoming and others set off for Hollywood.

Because "2012" is only a few tens of thousands of dollars away from successfully reaching the top.

Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, this movie will set a new world record.

Gu Wei wanted to witness such an important moment with his own eyes.

When Gu Wei and his team appeared at the Capital International Airport, reporters found that in addition to the main creative staff.

Han Sanping, Chairman of China Film Group Corporation, Ye Ning, General Manager of Wanda Films, and Wang Changtian, Chairman of Guangxian Film Group, as investors of "2012", also appeared together with Gu Wei and others.

"Mr. Han, Mr. Wang, and Mr. Ye, are you going to Los Angeles with Director Gu to attend the celebration party for '2012'?" The reporter from Sina Entertainment asked first.

"Well, no one wants to miss this moment, and since we just happened to have some time recently, we decided to go together."

"Director Gu, what do you want to say about the script of "Parasite" which has not yet passed the review?" The reporter from Sohu Entertainment asked a question that everyone is currently concerned about.

Hearing this, Gu Wei smiled and said, "Good things take time. After all, good scripts are always controversial."

After answering the reporter's questions, several people went into the waiting room and waited.

At the same time, news came from Hollywood on the Internet that the global box office of "2012" is about to approach billion US dollars, which is on par with "Avatar".

The entire film and television circle was in an uproar.

Whether it is the production industry, entertainment companies, or actors and artists in the circle, they were all shocked.

The scale and speed of this kind of profit is indescribable. I have no other feelings except envy and jealousy.

No wonder Xingchen Film and Television Company has repeatedly stated that it would not consider accepting investment. Isn’t it satisfying to make a fortune in silence?
By this time, the topic of "2012" had reached its peak, and the popularity of breaking the global box office record had set off a sensation in the world entertainment industry.

Waiting room.

Han Sanping, Wang Changtian, Ye Ning and others were all joking and full of envy and jealousy.

"Tsk tsk, the profits of our companies combined over three to five years are not as much as the box office revenue of one of your movies."

"Haha, it's all about strength. After all, if I say it's all about luck, you guys won't believe it."

Gu Wei said with confidence.

"That's right. If anyone says it's luck, we'll be the first to disagree."

Han Sanping and others were talking and laughing and joking, and Liu Yifei, Cheng Long, Huang Xiaoming and others would interject from time to time.

Everyone was a little excited. Thinking about stepping into the land of Hollywood again, they couldn't help but feel high-spirited.

That’s right, after all, we all came here as winners, which is very encouraging.

The flattery, compliments and congratulations from people in the industry, as well as the expectations of netizens and audiences for the movie, have filled the Weibo accounts of Gu Wei and Xingchen Film and Television Company.

Of course, there were a few who were sarcastic, but without exception, they were all rebuked by netizens.

Reincarnation of the Gods: "The US dollars they make from a movie are more than you have ever seen in your life. Those who say this are just jealous."

Tiger climbing a tree: "That's right, if you have the ability, you can earn US dollars standing up. If you don't have the ability, don't be sarcastic."

...

At the same time, companies such as Huayi, Bona, and Star Media, which own big directors and big-budget films, have come up with the idea of ​​tiered profit sharing and betting on movies.

Huayi Company.

Wang Zhongjun held the cigar between his fingers, took a deep puff, and then tapped the table lightly, asking for the opinions of Wang Zhonglei and Feng Xiaogang in front of him.

"You can give it a try. I'm very confident in 1942, but I don't know if the theater chain will agree to it."

Feng Xiaogang said in a deep voice that he cared more than anyone else about matters concerning interests.

"Are we going to propose the same bet as the billion-dollar box office bet for Titanic?" Wang Zhonglei asked the key point. If the deal is really reached, the box office critical point will have to be carefully considered.

"Ten billion is a bit high. Even though I am confident in my movie, the box office record for domestic films is there. It can't be raised by 300 million at once." Feng Xiaogang said rationally after hearing what Wang Zhonglei said.

After saying that, the two Wangs all looked at him, and Feng Xiaogang sighed slightly, "To be honest, the chances are not high. Even Zhou Xingchi's Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons is unlikely to break 1 billion."

There is nothing wrong with what Feng Xiaogang said. Although "2012" has exceeded billion yuan at the domestic box office, it is a Hollywood import film, starring world-class superstars, which naturally has a box office bonus.

Moreover, judging from the box office market in the first half of this year, the total box office is still rising, but it is hard to say whether the box office of domestic films can exceed that of last year. Now no one can be sure that they can raise the domestic record to 10 billion.

Hearing this, Wang Zhongjun nodded without comment, "1942 is OK, and I think Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons is also OK, but as for the other movies, forget it."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhonglei and Feng Xiaogang also nodded. After all, the company has invested all its resources in these two films, which are considered the highlights of Huayi this year.

"Let's just say 800 million. Let's talk about the bet based on this box office critical point." Wang Zhongjun set the tone.

"Okay, after all, Xingchen Films doesn't have any big movies to release this year, except for Lost in Thailand during the Lunar New Year. I think we can discuss with Zhou Xingchi and schedule the release of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons during the Spring Festival. In this way, the company might be able to benefit from both the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival."

Wang Zhonglei has always had the idea of ​​pushing Stephen Chow's "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" to the Spring Festival schedule, and even the publicity team has prepared a plan.

However, the only thing that Huayi is wary of is naturally the movies produced by Xingchen Film and Television Company. After all, "Painted Skin 2" during the Spring Festival last year almost broke the box office record of "Let the Bullets Fly".

But if Gu Wei does not participate in the Spring Festival competition this year, everyone will become active.

“It’s settled. In the next two days, we’ll look for a few more companies, especially those that have big movies coming out this year, and go together.

We don’t ask for much, we’ll just use 800 million box office as a bet, and we can accept a lower salary than Xingchen Film and Television Company.”

"it is good."

Then, Wang Zhongjun tapped his fingers on the chair and thought for a moment.

"The other thing is to increase the publicity budget and take advantage of Gu Wei's absence to cover both schedules."

"Hehe, speaking of which, we have to thank Xingchen Films. If they hadn't taken the lead in opening up this Spring Festival period, our company's own movies would probably have gone through a civil war."

Wang Zhonglei said excitedly.

"Well, you take care of the movie. I'll look for some good investment projects."

Wang Zhongjun is now focusing on the capital market. He made 500 million yuan in profit from his investment in Shanda Games two years ago. How long does it take to make a movie and how many movies does it take to get this much profit?

But think about it, how many Shanda Games would it take to achieve the same revenue as the movie "2012"?

“Since we can’t compete with them in the film industry, we have to find another way.

When other projects are successfully implemented, everyone will understand that the capital market is king, and the winner has not yet been completely determined. "

After Wang Zhonglei and Feng Xiaogang left, Wang Zhongjun muttered to himself.

In his opinion, although Xingchen Film and Television Company has not yet been listed, its valuation by people in the industry has already exceeded that of Huayi.

The best proof is that Tai Chi Ma took the initiative to contact Gu Wei, but unfortunately Huayi cannot learn Gu Wei’s skills in Hollywood.

Since we can’t learn it, we can only rely on the power of capital to regain the title of Huayi as the number one private film and television company.

.........

Just as Gu Wei and others rushed to Los Angeles.

The performance of the domestic film industry in the first half of this year has also been released.

According to statistics from relevant departments, the mainland film market continued to flourish in the first half of the year, with total box office revenue of approximately 77 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 57% compared to 35 billion yuan in the same period last year.

However, the box office of domestic films was 25 billion yuan, accounting for only 32.5%. Compared with previous years, this number is somewhat sluggish.

In the first half of this year, a total of 141 films were released, of which 103 were domestic films, but only less than ten of them were certain to make a profit, including "I Do", "The Ghost in the Pen", etc.
Not many of them were able to recoup their costs, only about seven or eight in total, including "The Great Magician" and "Black & White".

Moreover, most movies rely on revenue from box office, product placement, network or television copyrights and other channels to break even. The remaining 85 films have been confirmed to be in the red, with a loss rate as high as 82.5%. Domestic films are facing a sharp decline in profitability.

At the same time, with the increasing number of imported blockbusters, domestic films have encountered unprecedented challenges.

Many netizens and experts have put forward opinions and suggestions on how domestic films can move forward.

But in the eyes of netizens, the opinions of the experts are all nonsense. What kind of professional suggestions can a group of people who have never even made a movie give?

……

In 08, "Batman: The Dark Knight" brought Nolan both box office success and good reputation, and made him one of the world's top directors.

In other words, this movie made Nolan what he is today.

Now, "Batman Begins 3: The Dark Knight Rises" has confirmed its release date in North America, which is July 7th.

For this reason, when Nolan learned that Gu Wei would come to Hollywood in the near future, he was quite happy.

"Gu, I hope you can have time to come to Warner to watch this movie. I think it won't be worse than the previous ones."

Considering that he would definitely go to Warner headquarters for the movie "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", Gu Wei readily agreed.

Speaking of this movie, there are quite a lot of things. Before the movie was released, it was rated PG-13, which means that the movie contains violence, nudity, swearing, etc. Children under the age of 13 need to be accompanied by their parents to watch it.

The standard for the restriction level is, of course, that the film contains a large number of violent scenes, which will have an impact on the way minors think.

But to be honest, in the United States, not only movies, but also TV dramas, music, and radio have become recognized sources of the prevalence of violent culture.

Even though it is labeled as restricted, it does not affect fans' expectations for the movie at all.

Minors in their rebellious youth are always interested in bloody and violent things.

Influenced by cultural openness, today's young and middle-aged Americans are a generation with a very strong sense of self.

Many of them ignore the existence and rationality of others and judge the world based on subjective consciousness. When society and behavior are in great contrast with their own judgment, it is extremely easy to derive extreme emotions and behaviors.

Later, some crazy fans even issued death threats to filmmakers who gave negative reviews of the film.

Things happened one after another, but it did not affect the popularity of the movie at all. Warner Bros. even added fuel to the fire and used various events to carry out large-scale publicity.

All I can say is that the capitalists in free America care about nothing except money.

Of course, Gu Wei would not mention on the phone that a tragic shooting would occur when this movie was released.

On the one hand, Gu Wei was afraid to speak out. If his prediction came true, he might be secretly arrested and sliced ​​into pieces one day.

On the other hand, it is still unknown whether shootings will continue to occur due to the butterfly effect he has brought about.

Therefore, Gu Wei could only wish Nolan good luck in his heart.

.........

When the plane landed smoothly at Los Angeles Airport.

As Gu Wei and others arrived at the airport exit, a familiar voice rang out.

"Boss, Crystal, welcome to Hollywood again, haha."

Ryder was smiling happily. The global box office of "2012" is about to break billion US dollars.

He has been a hot commodity in Hollywood recently, with countless filmmakers and actresses trying to win him over, compliment him and fawn on him.

Han Sanping and others were also somewhat polite to Reid. After all, in their eyes, this man had always been Gu Wei's partner in Hollywood and was his representative.

After a group of people got in the car, they went straight to the hotel. The reason they did not go to the villa in Beverly Hills was naturally because there were too many people.

After all, there were only Huang Xiaoming and Cheng Long last time, and this time with Han Sanping and others, as well as the accompanying assistants, the number of people is close to twenty.

"Boss, I think you will be very busy in the next few days.

I need to participate in several shows and attend two cocktail parties..."

In the car, Reid introduced the next itinerary in detail, "By the way, Time magazine will also do an exclusive interview for you, boss."

After hearing this, not to mention Cheng Long, Huang Xiaoming and others, even Liu Yifei next to them felt a little envious.

"Is this the treatment for top directors?"

This thought popped up in everyone's mind!!
.........

(End of this chapter)