Chapter 222 Huayi is going to film "The Conferred Gods"

In the mainland's summer movie season in July, the most anticipated ones are of course "Curse of the Golden Flower" and "The Banquet".

Both films are works by famous directors, with a strong cast and high praise from the media. Zhang Weiping even shouted the slogan that the box office would exceed 500 million.

However, he has always had the habit of "making big announcements", and the media is no longer surprised by it.

Feng Xiaogang also made a surprising move, saying in an interview with the media that he had a crush on Zhou Xun and liked her silently, but he didn't dare to confess, so he could only watch her silently every day at work. He also talked about the roles of Ge You and Zhang Ziyi in the film, anyway, whatever could attract attention would be done.

The effect is still there. "Curse of the Golden Flower" won 3.2 million yuan in box office in mainland China, while "The Banquet" was slightly inferior, with 1.9 million yuan.

Although the reputation is not very good, it makes money after all.

The producers of both films held celebration parties and were filled with joy.

For a time, it seemed as if the mainland market had really entered the era of blockbusters. After all, a third director with a box office of over 100 million yuan and making money had appeared.

What made the media cheer even more was that although Jiang Heng was not included in this summer's box office, the total box office exceeded 500 million.

This led to a tabloid reporter writing that the real blockbuster era has arrived in the Chinese-language film market, and that Jiang Heng's films are not actually that good. They just have a good reputation and accumulated fans, plus they dominate the schedule and scheduling, suppressing other films.

If a different blockbuster is released during the Lunar New Year or summer vacation, it can still gross over 400 to 500 million yuan.

This statement is a bit extreme, but it is very useful for mainland filmmakers.

Because Jiang Heng has made too much money in the mainland market in recent years, but only cooperated with China Film, some film companies were dissatisfied.

Previously, there was only Zhang Yimou who could make profitable blockbusters, and now there is another one, Feng Xiaogang, which means that more and more blockbuster directors will appear in the mainland market.

The era when Jiang Heng's movies dominate a schedule will probably be over soon.

In Beijing, in a high-end restaurant, Wang Zhonglei, Feng Xiaogang, Gu Changwei, Zhang Guoli, Chen Guofu, Fan Qiaoqiao and others gathered together for dinner.

One is to celebrate the profits of "The Banquet", and the other is to discuss the next blockbuster.

Even though "The Banquet" grossed 1.9 million yuan in the mainland box office, the share of the profits received was only over million yuan, far from covering the production cost. The film also has overseas copyright fees.

Huayi Company took the initiative to go to major overseas film festivals and sell copyrights to film producers in various countries, focusing on the principle of small profits but quick turnover. For small countries like Turkey and Romania, as long as there are film producers willing to buy, they will sell even for US$5000.

All the overseas revenue added together would have recovered the cost long ago.

Combined with the mainland box office revenue, later DVD distribution, television multimedia copyright, etc., "The Banquet" can bring Huayi Brothers Company nearly 100 million yuan in revenue, which can be said to be a big win.

The brothers Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei have been in high spirits recently. They are so arrogant that they try to take advantage of everyone.

Of course, they still respect Feng Xiaogang. After all, he is the God of Wealth who helps them make money.

"Come on, let's toast to Old Feng. He is the third director in the mainland to have a box office of over 100 million yuan and he is also making a lot of money! It's just that our investment is not big enough and our special effects are not good enough. If we can monopolize a time slot, maybe we can also get 400 or 500 million yuan at the box office!"

Wang Zhonglei raised his glass and said that he firmly believed what was said in the newspaper and always felt that Huayi's spring was coming.

Feng Xiaogang was proud in his heart, but he still said modestly: "Not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning, he only helped the company earn 100 million, not as good as Jiang Heng!"

Wang Zhonglei said: "Jiang Heng is just lucky. In the past, he was the only one who could make blockbuster films in the mainland market. In the future, with a hundred schools of thought contending and a hundred flowers blooming, the audience will no longer look forward to his films!"

Chen Guofu nodded and agreed, "It's very likely. When I was in Columbia's Asia production department, I saw some analysis reports from the company. They said that the mainland film market will enter a period of explosive growth around 05 or 06. By that time, the audience will have more choices, and Jiang Heng's film box office will decline."

Gu Changwei sneered, "Of course. In the past, people had no choice. If they wanted to go to the cinema to watch a blockbuster, they could only watch his movies. The quality of the movies was just that. In the future, it's hard to say."

Feng Xiaogang heard this and realized that Wang Zhonglei had a new idea. "What does Mr. Wang mean?" Wang Zhonglei said, "I think we can also make a mythological blockbuster, such as "Investiture of the Gods"!"

After saying that, he pointed at Fan Qiaoqiao beside him and said to Feng Xiaogang, "Look, does she look like Su Daji?"

Fan Qiaoqiao's charming smile was just right, and it made Director Feng's heart beat fast.

"Well, it does have some charm!"

Wang Zhonglei snorted and said, "Jiang Heng is a young boy who doesn't understand women at all. He filmed a movie called "Dafeng Night Watchman" and found a bunch of little girls. Which one can match the charm of Qiao Qiao?"

Zhang Guoli said with a smile: "If Qiao Qiao joins, she will definitely be the most beautiful among all the girls!"

Fan Qiaoqiao smiled sweetly, "Thank you, Teacher Guoli!"

Zhang Guoli chuckled, "I'm also telling the truth!"

Then he said to Feng Xiaogang, "Old Feng, what do you think of my playing King Zhou?"

"I felt……!"

Feng Xiaogang thought to himself, I didn’t agree to direct either!

He is a person who cherishes his reputation very much, because it is not easy to become famous. He is afraid that if a movie fails, no investors will invite him to direct in the future.

For an internationally renowned director like Chen Kaige, many investments were quickly withdrawn after the failure of "The Promise".

The current filming of "Mei Lanfang" has an investment of less than 100 million yuan.

Xu Ke, who was once very successful, has been unable to find large investments since the box office failure of "The Legend of Zu".

After working so hard to make a movie called "Seven Swords", which was scheduled to be released during this year's National Day, I no longer have the courage to compete during the summer vacation or the New Year's Day.

Feng Xiaogang felt that he did not have the talent to shoot mythological films, so he would not dare to get involved easily.

He said hurriedly, "Well, I just wrote a script for a war film, and now my mind is full of that story, so it's hard to shoot Fengshen!"

Wang Zhonglei was stunned when he heard this. He really didn't expect Feng Xiaogang to refuse. The others at the table were also stunned.

After all, the situation is very good at the moment, and it’s time to blow the horn and charge forward!
"Uh, how about you take a break for a while, and then...?"

Feng Xiaogang waved his hands and said, "Don't, don't wait for me, I really can't come!"

Wang Zhonglei didn't force him seeing this and asked a few questions about the new script. Feng Xiaogang talked about it eloquently and Wang Zhonglei knew it was true and he wasn't just making excuses, so he let it go.

After the party, Wang Zhonglei and Chen Guofu went to another place to have tea.

The former frowned, "Old Feng is timid and afraid of ruining his reputation. What should we do?"

Chen Guofu said: "Under the current situation, the best way is to find it from Hong Kong!"

Wang Zhonglei frowned more and more. "In Hong Kong, Wu Yusen is busy with Red Cliff, Xu Ke is not very reliable, and Zhou Xingxing is also filming a new movie. As for Wang Jing, he can't get rid of his shitty and pissing style, so it's impossible to ask him to direct Conferred Gods. Could it be that we should ask Liu Weiqiang?"

In Wang Zhonglei's impression, "Feng Yun Xiong Ba Tian Xia" directed by Liu Wei Qiang is pretty good, with good box office and reputation.

Chen Guofu nodded: "You can try to contact him!"

(End of this chapter)