Chapter 298: Record-breaking "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons"

Guo Fan was very excited when he heard this.

Jiang Heng's appearance and acting skills are impeccable, and his fame is top-notch.

With him around, there’s less pressure on the box office and there’s no risk of losing money.

After thinking this through, he went to the Olympic venue again to talk to Jiang Heng about this.

"Is there enough time for me to play Ning Caichen?"

It's only April now, but he has more to do than just the opening ceremony on August 8. There's also the closing ceremony scheduled for August 8, and the opening and closing ceremonies of the Paralympic Games in September.

It can be said that before National Day this year, I had no energy to focus on filming movies.

Guo Fan said cautiously, "Well, this is what I thought. The crew will be set up in July or August. We will finish filming all the scenes except yours first. When you are done with your work, we will join the crew and film. We will definitely be able to finish filming before November.

In addition, we can select some special effects shots for confirmation and do them in advance, so that the film can be released in time for the summer next year."

Jiang Heng heard this and thought it was feasible.

After all, as far as his acting skills are concerned, as long as there are no problems with his opponent, he can almost get it right in one take, and time is not a big problem.

I couldn't think of any reason to refuse at the moment, so I agreed.

Guo Fan was extremely excited when he heard this, "Teacher, if you are willing to act in this play, then this play will be a sure thing!"

Jiang Heng said: "You can't say that, the script should be the first priority, let's write the script first!"

Guo Fan naturally agreed and went back to lead the screenwriter team to polish the script.

As for Zhou Xingxing, he has already started the promotion of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons".

This film is jointly produced by iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video, and Star Emblem, and is promoted and distributed by Bonanza Pictures.

Because Jiang Heng did not interfere much in the film, the main creative team remained almost unchanged.

The leading actor is Wen Zhang again.

At this moment, he had just become famous for his roles such as Zhuo Yue in "Days Related to Youth" and Xiang Nan in "Struggle", and had not yet behaved so rebelliously.

Before the filming started, Zhou Xingxing brought Wen Zhang to iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Pictures.

After all, he is the investor and producer of this drama, so it is only natural for him to come and meet me.

Jiang Heng did not object, but just asked Zhou Xingxing why he chose him.

His answer was that he felt this was a very talented actor, particularly charismatic, and he was the innocent and somewhat silly Chen Xuanzang in his mind.

Jiang Hengxin said, you are quite good at judging people, but you didn’t expect what happened to him later!

Of course, Jiang Heng didn't say much. After all, objectively speaking, Wen Zhang's performance in "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" was still very good.

This time, Wen Zhang behaved as humble as ever. He was particularly well-behaved and polite, making it hard not to like him.

No wonder Jet Li recognized him as his "godson" and was willing to play a supporting role to support him.

"Well, the premiere of the new film is scheduled for the 24th. If you are free that day, you must come!" Zhou Xingxing said.

Jiang Heng nodded slightly, "Okay, as long as I'm not too busy that day, I will definitely be there!"

The premiere of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" will be held in more than one place, with events scheduled in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Some are more grand, with preview screenings arranged on the day, while others are just meetings with the media and interviews.

The activities in the capital were naturally more grand, and the venue was chosen to be the Workers' Stadium.

After 08, we can hold the premiere at the Olympic venue.

On the afternoon of the 24th, Jiang Heng, dressed in a suit and tie, drove to the event site. As soon as he got out of the car, reporters came up to take pictures.

Jiang Heng just waved and walked onto the red carpet with a smile.

I went to the huge poster of the movie, signed my name, and turned around to take a photo.

The beautiful host Shen Xing smiled sweetly and said in a tender voice: "Hello, Director Jiang, I am very honored to interview you in the envious eyes of my colleagues. Then I would like to ask on their behalf, what do you think of this movie "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons"? "

Jiang Heng said: "I am very optimistic about the box office performance of the film. As you know, Director Zhou Xingxing is a very talented person and one of my favorite actors. His film is very creative and funny. The visual effects are also great. I like it very much."

In fact, the visual effects of this film cannot be compared with those of Jiang Heng's Journey to the West series films such as "Lion Camel Ridge", "Pingdingshan", and "The Monkey King 3".

The reason is simple, the cost is there.

The production cost of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" was only 1.5 million RMB, while those shot by Jiang Heng basically started at 5000 million USD. In terms of film investment, they are not even on the same scale.

However, this film is after all a self-produced one, and it also took most of the investment, so of course it has to be praised in various ways.

Shen Xing also cooperated in various ways, and joined Jiang Heng in praising the movie. They chatted for several minutes before Jiang Heng entered the venue.

Zhou Xingxing had arrived early, stepped forward to shake hands and said: "Thank you for coming to support us!"

Jiang Heng smiled and said, "I am a producer and supervisor after all, so I will definitely come!"

Zhou Xingxing laughed and said nothing.

After all, he is the director, and in his subconscious, this is his work.

Stephen Chow doesn’t have many friends in the circle, so there were no heavyweight guests at the premiere of “Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons” in Beijing.

However, some of Wen Zhang's friends, such as Ma Yili, Tong Dawei and Bai Baihe, came.

"Hello, Director Jiang, I'm Tong Dawei, and I've always admired you!"

"Hello, Director Jiang, I'm Bai Baihe (Ma Yili)...!"

"Hello, I know you. You played Lu Tao in Struggle very well!"

"Oh, thank you Director Jiang for the compliment!" Tong Dawei looked flattered.

Jiang Heng just made a few comments about Bai Baihe and Ma Yili, and then they left tactfully.

Soon the premiere event began. Zhou Xingxing first conducted media interviews, and after the interviews were over, he changed to another theater to watch the movie.

There are very strict security measures at the entrance, and photographic equipment is strictly checked to prevent secret recording.

During the preview, the overall atmosphere was good and the audience laughed many times.

However, some reporters secretly shook their heads, thinking that the special effects scenes in the film were a bit small-scale compared with Jiang Heng's several "Journey to the West" works.

"Master Xing's vision is still a little small. With Director Jiang's support, why don't you make the scenes more grand?"

"I think what he wanted to express was the regret of love! But to be honest, I am still very moved!"

The scene of Miss Duan's death indeed moved many viewers to tears.

After all, although Jiang Heng’s blockbuster special effects scenes are outstanding, the love element is too lacking!
A few days passed in a flash, and soon it was May Day, the day when the film was released.

Thanks to Zhou Xingxing's extremely high popularity in mainland China and the subject matter, "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" grossed as high as 7385 million on its first day, surpassing "The Three-Body Problem" to become the mainland's first-day and single-day box office champion.

Once the news was reported, public opinion was in an uproar.

After all these years, someone finally managed to surpass Jiang Heng in terms of box office.

Although this film is produced by iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video, it still excites many filmmakers.

(End of this chapter)