Chapter 572 For the Dream

After the affairs in Beijing were concluded, Gu Wei returned to Oriental Movie Metropolis to continue filming "The Wandering Earth".

Time quickly came to late August.

In the fourth week of its release, the total box office of [Wolf Warrior 2] officially exceeded 5 billion yuan and was heading towards 5.5 billion yuan.

The summer season is coming to an end, and several new films have been released in the film market.

Among them, the three films with the highest filming ratio are "SPL 2: The Last Lang", "The Breaking Bad", and "One Hundred Thousand Jokes 2".

[Breaking the Game] is a police and gangster film co-starring Aaron Kwok and Wang Qianyuan, a remake of a Korean movie [Going to the End].

To be honest, the quality is good, the plot is complete and the actors' acting skills are online, but unfortunately the box office is not satisfactory.

Aaron Kwok and Wang Qianyuan are not stars with box office appeal. The lack of publicity and promotion of the film resulted in a box office revenue of only 43.96 million in the first four days of its release, an average of only about 10 million per day.

[One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes 2] was better, with 55.52 million in the first three days. Since it was an animation, the cost was relatively low, so although the box office was not very high, it was still profitable.

The only new film that performed relatively well was "SPL 2", which grossed 220 million yuan in its first week, second only to "Wolf Warrior 2" which was in its fourth week of release, and ranked second in the single-week box office rankings.

The director of "SPL 2: The Last Lang" is Ye Weixin, and the "Ip Man" series of films that have been very popular in recent years are his works.

Director Ye has a good relationship with Zhen Zidan and can be said to be Zhen Zidan's benefactor.

As early as 2005, Ye Weixin filmed the earliest "SPL" and found Zhen Zidan, who was not very famous at that time, to be the leading actor.

Wu Jing played a villain boss in the film and contributed a wonderful fighting scene with Zhen Zidan.

However, as a villain, he was beaten up by Zhen Zi alone.

It is said that after filming that scene, Zhen Zidan broke several wooden sticks.

From that time on, Wu Jing's career began to enter a trough period. He played supporting roles in various Hong Kong films and his popularity gradually declined.

Zhen Zidan took advantage of Ye Weixin's popularity, and the two collaborated on "Flash Point", "Dragon Tiger Gate" and the "Ip Man" series that later made him famous.

[SPL: Part Two] has nothing to do with the 2005 [SPL]. Although they belong to the same series of movies, they only have similar shooting styles and have no connection in terms of story plots.

The protagonist of the movie is Louis Koo, and it is also a police and gangster action movie, and the quality is better than "The Breaking Point".

Hong Kong films are really in a period of transition now. Not only is the market shrinking, but talent is also gradually dwindling.

The older generation of Chow Yun-fat, Chow Yun-fat, Yi Cheng and the Four Heavenly Kings are gradually getting older, and there are almost no actors of the new generation who can take on the responsibility, leaving only Louis Koo to struggle to support the cause.

In the current market, almost all Hong Kong films are starred by Louis Koo, without exception.

In fact, high hopes were placed on Guan Xi and Nicholas Tse at the beginning, but unfortunately one became a master of photography and the other focused on cooking, and neither of them cared about the Hong Kong film industry.

Hong Kong films are not dead yet. They are supported by some older actors and directors who are older than them. When this group of people can no longer shoot, Hong Kong films will truly come to an end.

This is not alarmist.

In recent years, new talents have emerged in the mainland entertainment industry. Young stars represented by Gu Wei have gradually established themselves in the circle, and even crushed the older generation of stars in terms of the number of fans.

However, there are basically no new talents emerging in Hong Kong Island. People still talk about people like Andy Lau, Louis Koo and Leung Chiu Wai. There has been a complete generational gap in talent.

The box office success of "SPL: Part Two" is not only due to the fact that the movie is really good, but also due to the publicity and promotion.

Knowing that Wu Jing is now very popular, he has been mentioned many times since the movie premiere.

Things like "Director Ye Weixin thinks Wu Jing plays the villain best~" and "Martial arts director Sammo Hung thinks the fight scenes between Wu Jing and Zhen Zidan in the old version of SPL are the classics."

If you know how to ride on the popularity and promote your film hard, the box office performance will naturally not be too bad.

"Brother, did you win the lottery today? Why are you so happy?"

On the set in the morning, Zhao Jinmai was wearing a bulky protective suit and looking curiously at Gu Wei who was also getting dressed next to her.

"Is it so obvious?"

"Of course. I can tell something good has happened to you. You've been smiling all morning."

"It's nothing, actually. I checked the real-time box office when I woke up, and Wolf Warrior 2 has broken 5.5 billion."

At the end of the fourth week, even the popular "Wolf Warrior 2" has fallen into a slump, with the single-day box office dropping to just over 20 million. However, this is not important, because the total box office of the film has exceeded 5.5 billion yuan, which is only one step away from the 5.6 billion in the original time and space.

At this time, there is still a month left before "Wolf Warrior 2" is released.

Gu Wei is happy because, according to the current box office trends, it is certain that the box office of "Wolf Warrior 2" in which he starred will surpass the original version, and it will surely exceed 5.6 billion by the end of this week.

As for whether it can reach 6 billion in the end, it is hard to say. After all, the daily box office will be lower as time goes by. In the last month, it is possible to get a box office of 200 to 300 million, or it may only get more than 100 million.

But no matter what, the results proved that Gu Wei's joining played a positive role in "Wolf Warrior 2", which is why he was happy.

"Great, great." Zhao Jinmai couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

"You are unprecedented and unparalleled, and you have truly left your name in the history of Chinese cinema!"

“There is nothing wrong with it if there is no one before, but there will definitely be no one after.

There will definitely be a movie in the future that will surpass the box office of "Wolf Warrior 2", but it is not certain how long it will take.

"Titanic" was the domestic box office champion for 11 years, while "Monster Hunt" only held the title for more than half a year.

I don’t know how many years Wolf Warrior 2 can stay in this position.”

“That’s not up to you.”

"It depends on me?" Gu Wei didn't understand what Zhao Jinmai meant.

"Yeah, wait and see if you can make a movie that surpasses Wolf Warrior 2 in box office. Then it can stay at the top for a few years."

"Haha. Why me and not someone else?"

"I can't think of anyone else in the country whose movies can have such high box office except you." Zhao Jinmai shook his head and said seriously.

By the end of August, Gu Wei had completed more than half of his scenes in "The Wandering Earth", and Wu Jing officially joined the crew.

"Brother Jing, are you done with your work outside?"

"That's about right. I've been doing endless interviews lately, so I can get some peace and quiet while filming."

"Haha. Who made you so popular now?

Let's go, I'll take you to see Director Guo."

The first person Wu Jing notified when he joined the team was definitely Gu Wei. On the day he arrived, Gu Wei went to the outside of Oriental Movie Metropolis to pick him up.

"Look, it's Wu Jing!"

"Hello, Teacher Wu Jing!"

"Teacher Wu Jing shot Wolf Warrior 2 so well!"

“.”

When they entered the studio, the crew were very surprised to see everyone around Gu Wei. The brave ones even greeted him, and Wu Jing also responded with a smile.

During the release of [Wolf Warrior 2], Wu Jing's popularity and attention were indeed unmatched, even Gu Wei, who was also the male lead, was a little behind.

It’s not that Gu Wei is not as famous as Wu Jing, but that the two of them have different levels of popularity.

Gu Wei has always been very popular, and the popularity of "Wolf Warrior 2" only brought him to a higher level. Wu Jing was almost out of fashion before "Wolf Warrior 1", and later regained some fame thanks to the good box office performance of "Wolf Warrior 1".

"Wolf Warrior 2" brought him to the top and made him the most popular director and actor in the country.

It's like there are two students in the class. One always scores more than 90 points. When he gets 100 points this time, no one will be too surprised. But the other usually only scores more than 60 points. When he gets full marks this time, everyone will naturally pay more attention to him.

"Teacher Wu Jing, welcome, welcome."

Guo Fan, who was discussing filming with the photographer in the crew, was suddenly enlightened when he saw Wu Jing approaching.

"Sorry, Director Guo, I'm a little late joining the crew."

"No, I came just in time, a few days earlier than the agreed date."

The person who was most happy about Wu Jing joining the crew to film was Guo Fan. In his heart, Gu Wei and Wu Jing were the Dragon and Phoenix of "The Wandering Earth". Now that the two of them were together, he was completely relieved.

Guo Fan chatted with Wu Jing enthusiastically for a while, and then took him around the crew's studio to familiarize him with the shooting location. The process was similar to when Gu Wei came.

"Brother Jing, please do as you please. We still have two scenes to shoot today. We'll have a welcome party for you tonight after we finish filming."

"Director Guo, you guys are busy, don't worry about me."

Guo Fan smiled and started to get down to business.

This was Wu Jing's first time on the set of "The Wandering Earth". After entering the studio, especially when Guo Fan took him around, it was like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden. Everything he saw opened his eyes.

Wu Jing never thought that science fiction films could be shot in this way, and that there are people in China who really put their heart into making a science fiction movie.

"How is it? Is it serious?" After Guo Fan left, Wu Jing strolled two steps and came to Gu Wei again, watching him put on protective clothing with the help of the staff.

"Of course it's heavy, dozens of kilograms, but mine is still relatively light. Look at the black exoskeleton that Li Guangjie and the others are wearing over there, that weighs 80 kilograms, and they basically perform for a whole day after wearing it." Gu Wei nodded and motioned Wu Jing to look over there.

"I heard from the director that luckily I don't need to wear such heavy equipment."

"Hey, you also had a scene where you wore a space suit. I heard that one wasn't much lighter than this one."

"Why does filming a sci-fi movie feel even harder than my action movies?" Wu Jing looked at Gu Wei's gear and picked up the round helmet from the ground. "It's so well made, it feels just like the real thing."

"Science fiction can't just rely on words; props are the most important. All kinds of high-tech equipment must be realistic, otherwise how can the technological prowess be shown?

These props were jointly designed and produced by [Beijing Physical Special Effects 421 Studio] and [New Zealand Weta Workshop]. They are so textured and detailed that people would believe they are real if you said they were real.”

As he spoke, Gu Wei raised his hand and showed Wu Jing the mechanical arm in his hand, which was the one that "Liu Qi" used to smash the display screen at the beginning of the movie.

Wu Jing looked at the high-tech robotic arm, then raised his head to look at the surrounding scenery.

"It must have cost a lot of money to put on such a big show, right?"

At this time, he changed his careless attitude when helping Gu Wei and began to take this domestic film seriously.

"Not much, 400 million." Gu Wei stretched out four fingers and said in a flat tone.

"Is China Film Group so bold?"

"I am half of the China Film Group family."

“You invested so much?

Aren’t you afraid of losing money?”

Wu Jing was a little surprised. He knew that Gu Wei was an investor in "The Wandering Earth", but he only thought that the other party was converting his film remuneration into investment, and at most he would work for nothing. He didn't expect that he invested so much money.

Gu Wei grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.

"Brother Jing, your Wolf Warrior 2 helped me make so much money, I have to spend it somewhere.

I think Director Guo is a man who gets things done, and "The Wandering Earth" is an excellent science fiction film.

Maybe with everyone's concerted efforts, this film can open the door to Chinese science fiction films and set an example for future science fiction films.

A little money means nothing to a dream."

Listening to Gu Wei's words, Wu Jing couldn't help but give him a thumbs up. Everyone can say nice words, but who can afford 200 million RMB?

Considering the current situation of domestic science fiction films, the fact that Gu Wei can spend so much money to support the filming can only mean that he is truly passionate about it.

"Let me introduce you, this is my sister, Zhao Jinmai"

"Hello, Teacher Wu Jing." Zhao Jinmai saw that Wu Jing was a little reserved.

"Hello, the little girl is so cute. You don't have to call me teacher, just call me Brother Jing."

"There's no scene with Uncle Da today. He's not here. You two are the only ones among us who have scenes together."

The crew had been filming for two months, and Wu Mengda's scenes were almost finished. After Wu Jing joined the crew and made up for their scenes, he could finish filming.

"I know Uncle Da quite well. We worked together on a movie when we were still in Hong Kong. It's been over ten years now."

"It's a good opportunity to have dinner together tonight, you can catch up and have a couple of drinks with Uncle Da."

Oriental Movie Metropolis is neither big nor small.

The news of Wu Jing joining the crew spread quickly, and the crew of the neighboring "Crazy Alien" also knew that another leading actor of "The Wandering Earth" had arrived.

"What kind of shitty luck does Guo Fan have?" Ning Hao heard the news from the staff and shook his head with emotion.

He has a really good relationship with Guo Fan. Ning Hao helped a lot in the filming of the original time and space "The Wandering Earth". Even though Guo Fan doesn't need any help now, the two of them always discuss some filming issues together.

Both of their films are adapted from Liu Cixin's novels, so naturally they have common topics.

"Luck is a very magical thing. You never know when it will come to you." Xu Zheng wore a strange device on his head and his face was covered with small white dots.

He and Ning Hao are good friends, and he also played a role in "Crazy Alien", the monkey-like alien.

The thing on his head is a motion capture device used to capture his facial expressions.

The expressions of aliens in future movies were created by capturing Xu Zheng's facial movements.

"Haha, you're talking nonsense. Your company made a low-budget romance film, and you were lucky enough to get Gu Wei's attention."

"I didn't expect it either, luck, luck." Xu Zheng's grinning look really asked for a beating.

"But Guo Fan was indeed lucky. He found Gu Wei and Wu Jing as the two main actors for the film, and their last film together was such a hit.

The Wandering Earth became a hit before it even aired

Haozi, why don't you invite Guo Fan, Wu Jing, Gu Wei and the others next door out for dinner one day so that we can all get to know each other better.

I’m going to be working with Gu Wei at the end of the year, and I’m not familiar with him yet.”

Ning Hao thought about it.

"Okay, take Chen Teng and Bo Zi with you. They have a good relationship with Gu Wei. I will meet with Guo Fan."

(End of this chapter)