Chapter 132: Media's Bad Speech
What Chen Kaige said was not nonsense.

Since Jiang Heng's special effects blockbusters have been released continuously, many filmmakers and investors who envy his box office results have gathered together to discuss which one would be easiest to copy successfully.

Don’t even think about a science fiction film similar to “The Matrix”, I really don’t have the idea for it.

"100 Million BC" is worth learning, but it's just a monster blockbuster without any class. Domestic commercial film directors all had an artistic dream in their early years. Even someone like Feng Xiaogang wanted to be a master, but they couldn't get over the mental barrier of making monster movies.

Not to mention "Pacific Rim", which has never been influenced by mecha culture at all.

Wang Jing did make a movie called "Atlantic Rim", but he lost a lot of money because the special effects were cheap and the movie looked neither Chinese nor Western.

After much thought, only mythological special effects blockbusters are the easiest to copy.

Whether in terms of cultural background or familiarity with the story, mythological themes are the easiest to get started with.

In the field of special effects, there are also many production companies internationally. As long as the money is enough, there are many people willing to do the work.

With such a thought-provoking novel as "The Monkey King", Chen Kaige is confident that the box office performance of his new film will definitely surpass "Lion Ridge" and "Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother".

Especially since the North American box office of both films exceeded 200 million US dollars, he was very envious.

Among them, "Lion Camel Ridge" was 2.6 million US dollars, and "Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother" was 2.07 million.

Perhaps due to the film's lack of novelty and aesthetic fatigue, "Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother" not only stood out in the mainland market and broke box office records.

Compared with the box office performance of "Pacific Rim" in other markets, there have been declines to varying degrees.

For example, in the Japanese market, it only grossed 133 billion yen (about 1.06 million U.S. dollars), barely exceeding the box office performance of "Jurassic Park" in Japan in 93.

The global box office was $5.75 million, nearly half of Pacific Rim's $9.39 million.

Seeing this, some domestic tabloid media began to speak out in pessimism, claiming that Jiang Heng had lost the favor of the European and American markets.

Judging from the market rule that "most sequels have always been bad", Jiang Heng's sequel to "The Matrix" is likely to flop.

Jiang Heng probably shot two films in a row for the same reason, hoping to maximize profits before the reputation of this series completely collapses.

This article is detailed and uses data to support its argument, which has fooled some people.

Even some larger newspapers and magazines began to reprint it, and sales indeed increased significantly.

In the boss's office at iQiyi Film Company, Jiang Heng stood in front of the French window and answered the phone.

Han Sanping said, "I inquired about it. It was written by an intern reporter. Young people are bold and dare to say anything! Even if the box office of "Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother" drops again, it still has a global box office of more than 500 million US dollars. We made a lot of money. They wrote it as if we lost money!"

Jiang Heng chuckled, "This is lower than expected. Some people thought they could make a million this year, but at the end of the year they only made 70, and told everyone they lost 30. This movie performed so well in China, everyone thought it could exceed 1 billion US dollars, but in the end it only made more than 500 million. Don't you feel like you lost money?"

Han Sanping said: "For movies, it's already amazing if every one of them makes money, but how can each one be higher than the last? Even Spielberg wouldn't dare to say that!"

Jiang Heng laughed, "So don't pay any attention to this kind of article!"

Han Sanping said: "The Matrix 2 will be released in less than two months. Will it have any impact?"

The entire "Matrix" trilogy was exclusively invested by Jiang Heng. The only difference is that the first one was produced by "YouTeng" Pictures, and the second and third ones were produced by "iQIYI".

Han Sanping and China Film Group have nothing to do with the sequel, and the distribution is also done by Bonanza.

I asked this question because Jiang Heng is an important partner.

Jiang Heng smiled, "It's okay, it's just a little trick. The market confidence cultivated by five special effects blockbusters cannot be shaken by this little slander."

Han Sanping thought about it and felt that it was true. Once the preview was held and the word-of-mouth of the audience in major ticket-suppressing cities was released, the influence of such comments disappeared. Only Jiang Heng did not dare to hold a preview, which showed that there was really a problem with the quality of the film.

After chatting for a few minutes, he hung up.

After sitting back in the boss chair for a while, I heard the sound of a message. I clicked it and saw that it was from Liu Tianxian.

After calling him uncle for the first time they met, Liu Tianxian visited the crew twice more.

Because we were busy with filming, we didn't talk much, and later we just communicated through text messages.

Liu Tianxian followed the historical development trajectory, got the role of Wang Yuyan, and joined the crew of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils".

She would send a few text messages every now and then to talk about her filming experience on the set.

"Uncle, the teacher who plays Duan Yu is a little too old. It should be played by someone young and handsome like you. Besides, you have that kind of noble aura, you don't even need to act."

Jiang Heng looked at her and smiled, thinking, does this girl not understand the concept of "rank" at all?
Whenever I act in a movie, I am scolded by fans for lowering my own value. I can’t even imagine what would happen if I were to act in a TV series!
I typed back: "Duan Yu is a character I really like, but it's a pity that I don't have the chance to play him!"

"It's fine if uncle doesn't act. If you were to act, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to portray Wang Yuyan's feeling of keeping people at a distance!"

Jiang Heng couldn't help laughing when he saw this, thinking: "This little girl is quite talkative. She is not as dull as she used to be when facing the outside world!"

Replied: "Then I can't delay your acting!"

Liu Tianxian replied after a long while, "Uncle, are you still so busy recently?"

"Fortunately, I can take a break for half a month, and then I will release "Hacker 2", buy copyrights and promote it!"

"Is it going to be screened again?"

"Well, we have to visit all the top ten cities in the country for box office!"

"Then I'll take some time off to go and see it!"

"Okay, I'll help you arrange your itinerary then."

Then, it took two hours for me to reply.

The content of the post was that someone came to visit the set, and someone came to visit the set a while ago.

Jiang Heng just responded with a few words.

The next day, Liu Tianxian mentioned visiting the set again.

Jiang Heng "reacted" and thought, does he want me to go and take a look?
The problem is that he has never visited any of the actresses he has worked with on set.

This Liu Tianxian has never cooperated with him before. If she shows up rashly, she will probably be on the news!
But on second thought, is he still afraid of this?
After thinking about it, I really haven't had much work recently, and I have stayed in Beijing for quite a long time.

The crew of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" is currently filming in Zhejiang, so it would be nice to go over there and take a look.

He immediately ordered someone to book a plane ticket, and the next day he flew directly to Zhejiang with his assistant, driver, bodyguards and several others.

Then charter a car locally and head straight to Fangyan, Yongkang.

Fangyan is a typical Danxia landform area with dangerous peaks, strange rocks, beautiful waterfalls and unique caves, which is very suitable for filming martial arts dramas.

In addition to "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", the later popular "The Journey of Flower" was also filmed here.

(End of this chapter)