Chapter 612: Battle Records at Home and Abroad

General Administration, in the conference room.

After Gu Wei finished speaking, many directors began to discuss in low voices.

His words left many directors present confused. If the rating system is uncertain, the General Administration's review standards will certainly not be lowered.

Several leaders looked unhappy. There was a hint of threat in Gu Wei's words. Although he didn't say it explicitly, there was almost no one else in China who could go to Hollywood to make movies anytime and anywhere except him.

While Gu Wei was speaking, Han Sanping kept winking at him, as if he wanted to cover his mouth. After he finished speaking, Han Sanping turned his head and looked at him deeply.

Does that mean that what you said before about having a good chat also includes this?
"Well, let's just talk about the grading system. There's no need to talk about other miscellaneous things."

As soon as Gu Wei finished speaking, Han Sanping spoke up, and anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was trying to defend him.

"Director Gu, please tell me in detail what the criteria for relaxation are. No need to waste time on the other things." Director Tong, who was sitting at the top, also said something, diverting everyone's attention.

"Subjects involving racial conflicts, sex, and defamation of history can be appropriately banned, but the policy should be relaxed for violent and realistic subjects..."

Gu Wei continued, "We should not condemn the inexplicable investments and reports from some parents, viewers, and peers..."

As he spoke, most directors finally understood Gu Wei's position.

Everyone agreed at once.

"Our requirements are very simple. Even if we can't reach the level of Hollywood or South Korea, we should leave enough creative space for everyone, even if it's just like Hong Kong Island..." Zhang Yimou continued.

Later, Jiang Wen and Jia Zhangke also had the same idea...

After the meeting, Gu Wei, Zhang Yimou, Jiang Wen, Chen Kaige, Feng Xiaogang and others were retained.

As for what these five people said to the leaders of the General Administration, no one else knows.

As soon as the meeting ended, the director who came out to be interviewed cheered, which made the reporters waiting at the door very excited. They really thought that the rating system had been decided.

But as the interviews went on, everyone realized something was wrong, and several big directors did not come out.

"Directors Gu, Zhang and Jiang are very supportive of the rating system. This meeting may change the rules of the domestic entertainment industry."

"The leaders of the General Administration went from being firm at the beginning to being hesitant at the end. It is very likely that the grading system will be implemented."

Just like that, as the interviews with Jia Zhangke, Lou Ye, Wang Xiaoshuai and others ended, the reporters were already eager to rush back to write their articles.

.........

The latest news keeps coming out of the entertainment industry. Before the end of October, the Lunar New Year movies have begun large-scale promotion.

"Produced by Shanghai Film Group, directed by Li Rengang, and starring Lu Han, Jing Boran and others, The Lost Tomb has announced a release date for the Chinese New Year."

"The Lunar New Year holiday season has added another domestic special effects blockbuster, which is also the first tomb-raiding film in China."

"'New Police Story' announced the premiere date, and Cheng Long praised Jingtian's acting skills on many occasions in public."

"There is new news about "Personal Tailor". Director Feng Xiaogang said that the box office is guaranteed to be 1 billion yuan, and Huayi Film Company announced that it has booked the box office champion of this year's Lunar New Year holiday in advance."

"Wang Shuo, a famous mainland writer and screenwriter, was a guest on a talk show and talked with Feng Xiaogang about his creative experience in "Personal Tailor", saying that this script is a rare masterpiece."

Looking at the online reports, Gu Wei was somewhat disdainful and smiled, "It's just a film that was made to make some money, how can it be considered a masterpiece, haha."

Song Ge was a little puzzled and said, "But Feng Xiaogang and Ge You have great appeal. I saw on the news this morning that Feng Xiaogang left his handprints and footprints on the Avenue of Stars yesterday!"

Song Ge was talking about the "Walk of Fame" in front of the Hollywood Chinese Theater. Since 1960, the Walk of Fame has been inlaid with more than 2000 stars engraved with the names of world celebrities, including not only entertainment stars, but also sports stars, world celebrities, and even virtual characters such as Mickey Mouse. In addition, there are handprints, footprints, signatures, and even nose prints of nearly 200 world celebrities.

In the original time and space, Feng Xiaogang left his seal on November 11st in Hollywood, but now because "1" was released on a small scale in North America, it was moved forward a few days.

However, having said that, those who can leave their footprints and handprints on the Avenue of Stars are all well-known figures in the mainland film industry.

Gu Wei, needless to say, had held a personal film exhibition in Hollywood as early as when "2012" won the global box office champion. Before him, it was Cheng Long and John Woo who left their mark, and the Chinese with stars were Cheng Long and Bruce Lee.

It has to be said that outsiders are good at chanting sutras. Feng Xiaogang left his prints on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and held a personal film exhibition in North America. When the news spread back to China, it still made some people excited.

The popularity of "Personal Tailor" became even greater, and it was recognized by many people as the box office champion of the 2013 Lunar New Year holiday.

But Gu Wei knew the quality of the film and didn't take it seriously at all.

.........

Online.

"Gu Wei's new sci-fi film The Wandering Earth has been a huge success overseas, surpassing Gravity to become the North American box office champion for the third week."

"Gu Wei's sci-fi films have become another powerful tool for domestic films to break into overseas markets, defeating Hollywood blockbusters head-on."

"The Wandering Earth has surpassed Gravity in total box office in three weeks, but it lacks stamina."

Domestic media have already begun to report on the project in a big way, and news about "The Wandering Earth" can be seen more or less on various websites and media.

Currently, the number one overseas Chinese-language film is Li An's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", with a cumulative North American box office of 1.28 million US dollars.

One of the most important factors for the success of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in North America is actually the film's subject matter and the fact that the director is Li Yin.

But now "The Wandering Earth" has broken this record, and it is very likely to set a new record that no Chinese-language film will be able to surpass.

At the same time, the mainland box office performance of "The Wandering Earth" has exceeded 2 billion, surpassing "Lost in Thailand" and also significantly increasing the mainland box office of a single domestic film.

When Xingchen Films announced this achievement to the media, it naturally triggered a wave of media frenzy.

Two billion RMB, based on the 2013 China-US exchange rate of 6.04, is nearly 3.4 million US dollars. Moreover, The Wandering Earth also took in 1.3 million US dollars in the North American market.

This figure has surpassed the 1.24 million box office of Warner's other blockbuster "Gravity", and has already triggered praise from the Hollywood media.

What's more, "Nomadland" has only been released in North America for less than three weeks. If it is released for a few more weeks, it can still make more than 2.5 million US dollars a week. At least Warner expects the box office to reach million US dollars, and it is possible to become one of the top five box office movies in North America in the year.

To be honest, Americans are so arrogant that there are really not many foreign works that they can look up to.

A large part of the success of "The Wandering Earth" in the North American market is due to Gu Wei. After all, the several science fiction films he shot before have accumulated enough popularity and fans.

Not counting other markets, the box office revenue of "The Wandering Earth" in mainland China and North America alone has exceeded 4 million US dollars.

All these news drove the media crazy, and they all wanted to interview Gu Wei as soon as possible. But everyone found that Gu Wei had not shown up in the past few days, and only showed up at the end of the General Administration meeting, and did not accept any interviews from the media at that time.

At the same time, news came from the other side of the ocean that Warner Bros. and director Nolan have teamed up to launch another sci-fi blockbuster "The Martian".

Producers: Warner Bros., Tomorrow’s Star Films, and China Film Group Corporation;
Director: Christopher Nolan;

Producer: Mike;

...............

Screenwriter: Gu Wei;
At the press conference for "The Martian", Nolan praised the script written by Gu Wei.

"When I saw the script, I was deeply attracted to it. After careful consideration, I decided to shoot it with Warner. Believe me, it will be a wonderful science fiction movie..."

Reporters interviewing on the scene kept asking questions. The last time Nolan praised a script was when the project of "Inception" was launched.

This makes people sigh that the director from the other side of the ocean is truly amazingly talented.

Mike, the head of Warner who attended the press conference, even joked that Warner paid 1.5 million US dollars just to purchase the script, which would be directly included in the investment cost.

After the news spread back to China, before the celebrities in the circle could react, a large number of screenwriters were already envious and jealous.

"Think about it, I write a script for hundreds of thousands of RMB, while other people write a script for nearly 10 million RMB. Suddenly, I can't even put pen to paper."

"Hollywood screenwriters can intervene in filming, participate in casting, and even direct directors, but Chinese screenwriters are almost deprived of even the right to be credited."

"Domestic screenwriters should unite to increase the proportion of screenwriters in films and their status in the industry."

"We should learn from the Directors Guild and collectively report to the higher authorities. If that doesn't work, we can go on strike to show that we are fed up with this kind of life."

Gu Wei did not expect that the news from Hollywood would arouse discussions among a large number of domestic screenwriters.

But to be honest, being a film screenwriter is probably one of the most thankless jobs in the world.

Because in the more than 100 years since the birth of film, there is almost no film that dares to say that it has no flaws in the plot.

Whether it is a Chinese-language small- and medium-budget film or a Hollywood blockbuster, some blockbusters have such bad plots that the audience is very confused. With an investment of 200 to 300 million US dollars, can't they spend more money to hire a good screenwriter to make the plot less problematic?

Especially when it comes to film and television adaptations of literature, comics, and games, balancing the viewing experience of fans of the original work and casual fans is the most difficult part.

Watching a movie is different from watching TV at home. Audiences need to spend time to go to the theater in the business district, sit in the theater for one and a half to two hours, and spend money to buy tickets. If the viewing experience is not as expected, it will feel very worthless and upset.

This involves many factors such as the film's rhythm, the main plot conflict, the story's excitement, etc. Art films are not popular with the public, a big reason is that the rhythm is slow, and if a popcorn movie has too many plots, people will also feel that the story is boring.

The contradiction in the plot is naturally the dilemma of the protagonist. For example, the protagonist of a qualified commercial blockbuster cannot be without desires and demands. Some even need to have some obsession.

For example, Cobb in Inception's biggest obsession is to be able to return home and be with his children. But the prerequisite is that he has to help Saito complete the task of stealing dreams before he has the chance to go home. When the audience feels this, it is easier for them to care about the fate of the protagonist.

If the protagonist in a movie has no desires, then the audience will have nothing to look forward to. In a war novel, the protagonist wants to unify the world, and in an urban novel, the protagonist wants to be the richest man in the world. What else can the protagonist want? He can't want to be the president!
.........

It has been almost a week since the General Administration meeting ended. I don’t know whether Gu Wei’s remarks at the meeting produced any effect, or whether the joint efforts of many big directors in the industry forced the higher-ups to take it seriously.

Anyway, up to now, the General Administration has not announced whether the grading system is feasible or not.

The media reports were varied. Many directors in the circle felt that there would be a good result this time. Some even started advocating a rating system.

But the more Gu Wei looked at the General Administration's attitude, the more he felt that this matter was a bit strange. In the original time and space, the General Administration directly ordered a ban on this matter, but now, it seems that some unknown changes have taken place.

Ye Ning and Wang Changtian were worried about the review of "Devouring the Starry Sky", but Gu Wei knew very well that this matter could not be rushed, and what he said in the General Administration might have had some effect. The higher-ups had been slow to come to a conclusion, and it seemed that they were still discussing it.

There is no need to rush for "Devouring the Stars". "The Wandering Earth" is still being released, and the extension key is being watched by Han Sanding.

So he focused his energy on the company's affairs. "The TV series is indeed going to be finalized." Gu Wei muttered to himself.

Then Gu Wei called Wang Chen, and after the two discussed in the office for a while, Wang Chen started to work on this matter.

The next day, the latest developments were announced on the official Weibo account of Xingchen Film and Television Company.

I don't know when a group of reporters who specialize in following the official Weibo of Xingchen Film and Television Company appeared in the industry. As soon as there was any movement on the company's Weibo, the media immediately reported it.

"Xingchen Films announced the launch of the latest Xianxia drama "The Journey of Flower". Chen Xiao and Zhao Liying are suspected to be the male and female protagonists. Directors Zhang Dapeng and Wang Weiting have announced the audition conditions to the industry."

"Xingchen Film and Television Company's first fairy tale drama has been approved, and it is suspected that Liu Yifei will participate in it."

"It is reported that Liu Yifei and Hu Ge will partner up again after a decade."

The establishment and casting of the fantasy drama "Gu Jian Qi Tan" triggered fierce competition among many celebrity artists in the industry.

Now that Xingchen Films, one of the giants in the domestic entertainment industry, is going to shoot a fantasy drama, you can imagine the commotion it will cause.

The Internet is full of all kinds of gossip, and some of the reports even made Liu Yifei and Hu Ge laugh.

However, the impact of this TV series is huge. In just one day, the company received hundreds of audition resumes.

The current requirement is that female artists have experience in acting in released film and television works. For students from the three art schools of Beijing Film Academy, Central Academy of Drama, and Shanghai Theatre Academy, the requirement is relaxed to include no acting experience.

There are too many female artists in the film and television industry who have performance experience but have not become famous. A large number of people who have played supporting roles in various dramas have come to sign up, and at one time there were as many as a thousand people.

As a last resort, Xingchen Films arranged for personnel to classify the information into "pure extras", "small supporting roles", "third-tier artists", "second-tier artists" and "first-tier artists".

For first-tier actors who come to audition, both parties can make an appointment and there is a reception room. Second-tier and third-tier actors are arranged together. As for those who only have some minor supporting roles and "pure extras", they are received in another place.

Hundreds of "second- and third-tier" artists were sitting in the large conference room of Xingchen Film and Television Company, including Lou Yixiao, Li Jinming, Guan Xiaotong, Jin Chen, Jiang Yan, Wang Chuanjun, Zhang Yishan, Sun Yizhou and others.

Among them, Lou Yixiao, Wang Chuanjun, Li Jinming, Sun Yizhou, and Yuan Hong were chatting in low voices, because they had worked together in the "Love Apartment" series and had always had a good relationship.

Artists who come out of Shanghai Theatre Academy often give the audience the impression of being very united.

Such as Li Binbin and Ren Quan; Hu Ge and Yuan Hong; Chen He and Zheng Kai; Lei Datou and Guo Jingfei.

The situation at Beijing Film Academy is somewhat the opposite. For example, the most famous ones, Zhao Yanzi, Huang Xiaoming and Chen Kun, are often rumored to be in conflict with each other.

As for the Central Academy of Drama, it has an atmosphere of artists per capita and, compared with the other two major academies, it does not place much emphasis on scheming.

Friendships in the entertainment industry are true and false, but the Shanghai Theatre Academy group, at least in front of the media and outsiders, still appear to be very "united."

(End of this chapter)