Chapter 541 How to deal with it

May 5st is the first day of the May Day holiday.

The first trailer of Gu Wei's new film "The Wandering Earth", together with the global promotion song sung by Jane Zhang, was officially released simultaneously at home and abroad.

As the film had been prepared for several months, once the promotional song was released, more and more people suddenly discovered that TV stations, bus stops, high-speed rail platforms, and outdoor billboards were suddenly completely covered by this short three-and-a-half-minute trailer.

In the trailer, less than half of the content is about the movie, and the rest is a collection of shots of Jane Zhang and various lenses.

Online media and journalists are also racking their brains, trying to use words and innovative headlines to capture this huge wave of traffic.

In the end, this wave was taken by Sina Entertainment, one of the three major portals.

“The era of domestic blockbusters has begun!”

Sina Entertainment used these short eight words as the title, attracting countless viewers and netizens to click in and browse.

"Starting with Zhang Yimou's Hero, the mainland film market ushered in the era of blockbusters, with big production and high box office becoming synonymous with blockbusters.

Starting with "Avatar", the global film industry ushered in the era of 3D special effects blockbusters. Although "2012" directed by Gu Wei created a new global box office history, in the final analysis, they are all Hollywood movies...

Now, after a year and a half of development, the domestic special effects blockbuster "The Wandering Earth" is about to meet the audience..."

Finally, the report concluded with "Many good works show their extraordinary side when they are just born", and made a summary speech for this movie.

As a result, throughout the entire May Day day, "The Wandering Earth" became a huge hit even before it was released.

What about the daily box office of "Special Circumstances" exceeding 50 million, the crew of "So Young" breaking another big news, Wang Feng's new song release conference...

They were all covered up, on the front page of entertainment reports, at the top of trending searches, on major online forums…

They are all filled with discussions among netizens!

According to the memories of many netizens:
In the future, this film is seen as a masterpiece that will lead the Chinese-language film market into the blockbuster era.

The reason why "The Wandering Earth" will become a recognized epoch-making work in the future, in addition to its huge investment and high box office, is that it has opened the curtain of special effects blockbusters in the mainland, making domestic filmmakers marvel that Chinese-language blockbuster series can be shot in this way.

In addition, the film has excellent special effects, many but not complicated characters, grand scenes, and down-to-earth plot and lines, all of which make "The Wandering Earth" exude a temperament that is completely different from previous domestic blockbusters.

It can be said that it is not a heavyweight work at all.

While many filmmakers are still immersed in making money with "pseudo-blockbusters" and "traffic stars", "The Wandering Earth" has already truly gone abroad, allowing many foreigners to see how our "heroes" save the earth and save humanity.

……

"Director Gu, the trailer is very effective. When will the second version of the promotional song be released?"

Han Sanping asked with great interest.

Gu Wei laughed, "No rush, let's warm up for a while first, the movie can't be released now anyway."

As they were chatting, they talked about the second promotional song, which was written and composed by Fang Wenshan and sung by Zhou Jielun.

The promotional song was recorded long time ago, and when recording this song, Zhou Jielun also expressed that he hoped to have the opportunity to star in a movie directed by Gu Wei, even if he was not the protagonist!
Hearing this, Han Sanping's eyes lit up and he said, "Then we can think about this and invite Zhou Jielun to play a supporting role. If nothing else, at least when promoting the film, there will be one more main creator who can be brought on stage, instead of relying on you to stir up news all the time."

Afterwards, Han Sanping thought more and more that there was a way forward. "Zhou Jielun is very popular. She can play a role with few scenes and not too many requirements on her acting skills..."

On the other end of the phone, Gu Wei said: "Inviting the other party is not a problem, and playing a supporting role is not a problem. The key is that it is too late to invite him now."

Hearing this, Han Sanping was stunned. It was indeed a bit late. All the celebrities and artists who are a little bit popular nowadays have their schedules filled up early, let alone the little king of the music world.

But then again, Zhou Jielun does love acting, having directed and starred in "Secret" and "The Rooftop Love", the latter of which will be released in July this year.

But film production and promotion are not his main tasks this year. Jay Chou is busy with the Ferris Wheel World Tour, which will start on May 5th and will last for 7 shows.

Let’s not talk about inviting Zhou Jielun for now.

But online media applies the principles of "time is money" and "efficiency is life".

Having just finished interviewing Song Ge and others, the reporters went back and quickly churned out news releases which were published immediately.

Sina Entertainment: "The movie "The Wandering Earth" is currently selecting a release date. It is reported that the movie will be released simultaneously at home and abroad."

Penguin Entertainment: "The promotional song for "The Wandering Earth" sung by Jay Chou may be released globally during the summer vacation..."

Souhu Entertainment: "According to insiders, Zhou Jielun may star in director Gu Wei's next movie..."

As for other online media, some wrote the stories themselves, while others directly reposted them. Anyway, the focus of the publicity was on the release date of the movie and the gimmick that Zhou Jielun might join Gu Wei's new movie.

Many of these people secretly said in their hearts: "Don't blame us for writing nonsense after receiving the travel expenses. We really don't have any explosive news to write."

Although Gu Wei's appeal is already very strong, media publicity still requires eye-catching press releases.

For example, "Director Gu Wei's new film has started shooting," "Director Zhang Yimou's new film has started shooting," is just a slightly more attractive headline than ordinary entertainment news.

And a certain celebrity artist is suspected to join the new film directed by Gu Wei, or Liu Yifei is likely to star in the new film directed by someone else. This is not just one plus one, but a qualitative change in an instant, becoming the kind of news that attracts a lot of attention.

In Europe and the United States, many foreign audiences were also shocked by the trailer of "The Wandering Earth".

.........

Light, in the office. Wang Changtian, Zhao Yanzi and others gathered together, and everyone had a bad look on their faces.

Especially Zhao Yanzi's expression, which could only be described as ugly.

Before the May Day period, the premiere screening rate of "So Young" was around 20%, but now it has reached 41%, more than doubling.

But the box office for the entire May Day day was only 2080 million.

This data can only guarantee that the box office of this movie will reach around 300 million before it is withdrawn from theaters, which is a huge difference compared to the expected minimum of 600 million.

But the most terrifying thing is that the reputation of this movie suddenly collapsed.

More and more netizens have strong opinions about this movie.

This cannot be compensated simply by publicity or hyping up two hot topics.

And the chain reaction it triggered is that theaters have reduced the screening rate of "So Young", and as of now it is less than 30%.

In the office, Zhao Yanzi, who was sitting on the sofa, took a deep breath and said directly to Wang Changtian: "Boss Wang, increase the intensity of mobilizing the navy. We can't go on like this."

Wang Changtian looked at Zhao Yanzi, with no expression on his face, but in fact he was already silently calculating the gains and losses in his heart.

This movie cost about 60 million yuan to make. Even judging by the current box office, it will definitely not lose money, but it is estimated that it will not make much money either. It is very likely that it has been a waste of time and did not achieve the desired effect.

Wang Changtian said: "This matter is very likely that other opponents secretly took action, but there is also a slight possibility that Xingchen Film and Television Company was behind it.

Are you sure that continuing to mobilize a large number of online trolls now can ensure that the box office returns to its previous peak?"

Zhao Yanzi felt her scalp tingling after hearing what Lao Wang said, especially since it might involve Xingchen Film and Television, which is now a giant in the mainland entertainment industry.

If we really go head-to-head with the other party, not to mention myself, even the boss of the film and television company in front of me has a low chance of winning.

This was her first time as a director, so naturally she couldn't just give up like that.

Since we can't send out a large number of navy troops, we can only find another way, so Zhao Yanzi said: "Then Mr. Wang, tell me, what else can I do? As long as we can, we can do anything."

Hearing this, Wang Changtian's mouth corners slightly raised, and after thinking for a while, he said:
"The company will continue to expand publicity, and what you need to do is to take the main creative staff to public relations with major theater chains one by one, and strive to get more screenings."

Hearing this, Zhao Yanzi's eyes lit up. Yes, with the group of handsome men and beautiful women in her hands, she was not afraid of not being able to deal with the theater chain.

As for the media, since Wang Changtian has made the commitment, given Guangxian's strength, there shouldn't be any major problems.

So, that afternoon.

"Congratulations to new director Zhao Yanzi for joining the billion-dollar director club."

"Youth films are shining again at the box office, showing the vitality of the mainland film market."

On the Internet, all kinds of press releases are everywhere as if they are free.

At this time, the media, under the guidance of some caring people, went to interview other directors.

Lu Chuan, in particular, was the first to be hit.

After all, when he spoke at the Cultural Forum of the Asian Forum this year, he said that the country lacks professional producers, and that movies are too heavy-tasting and too entertainment-oriented.

So the media directly asked him about his views on youth-themed movies.

It is not known whether Lu Chuan received instructions or not, but he went all out and criticized all kinds of youth films about abortion, premature love, etc. in front of reporters from major media outlets.

Then, as if he had found something exciting, the reporter immediately asked, "Director Lu, what do you think of Zhao Yanzi's film "So Young"?"

Lu Chuan: "How can I watch it? Watching a movie like this is a waste of time and life."

Good guy, really good guy.

The reporters immediately gave a thumbs up and laughed their heads off. Now the post has become a hot topic.

After seeing Lu Chuan's interview, netizens were so amused that even Lu Chuan looked down upon the movie that Zhao Yanzi had spent so much effort to shoot.

...

Sina Entertainment: "New director Zhao Yanzi's first film, "So Young," was severely criticized by director Lu Chuan."

Souhu Entertainment: "Director Lu Chuan once again questioned domestic youth films, calling them pretentious and devoid of nutrition."

Just like that, people in the circle suddenly discovered an interesting phenomenon.

Here, Zhao Yanzi is still working tirelessly to promote and rescue the movie through public relations.

On the other side, Director Lu Chuan's remarks have been liked and recognized by other directors.

Poor Zhao Yanzi, I’m afraid she would never have thought of this.

Lu Chuan, who graduated from the same Beijing Film Academy, called her senior and junior brothers and sisters, and also hung out in the same circle, stole her "home" in this way.

.........

(End of this chapter)