Chapter 186 "The Storm" Released
Chapter 186
Lin Yuan did not participate in any New Year's Eve galas this year, even though he received many invitations.
Currently, Lin Yuan is focusing his energy on promoting "The Storm".
The Spring Festival is drawing ever closer. Although it hasn't officially started yet, Lin Yuan can already smell the tension.
When the release date of "The Storm" was officially announced, it was known that only five movies would be released during the Spring Festival, but now it has become ten.
Nevertheless, compared to previous years, this year's competition can even be described as mild.
Currently, the only known film with an investment of around 500 million is "The Storm".
The industry's attention to "The Storm" stems from two factors: firstly, its subject matter; and secondly, it is Lin Yuan's first commercial blockbuster, and it's being released during the highly competitive Spring Festival period.
Lin Yuan has always been considered to have great audience appeal, and his past works have all been quite successful. However, if a film actor doesn't carry a blockbuster at the box office, then his so-called audience appeal is nothing but a castle in the air.
Lin Yuan is already recognized as a top-tier player.
Whether he continues to soar or stops here, the performance of "Storm" will be very important.
"It's begun," Feng Zeng remarked.
Currently, "The Storm" has the most people who "want to see" compared to other new films, which is a rare favorable situation for Lin Yuan.
He's used to playing from behind.
However... anything can happen during the Spring Festival film season. A film that grosses over 1 billion yuan on its opening day may not necessarily become the box office champion.
"Do you feel a lot of pressure?" He Xun asked Lin Yuan.
He and Yu Ying had already bought their tickets and planned to go home for the Spring Festival to watch the movie with their families.
He Xun and Yu Ying didn't have much work at the end of the year, but Lin Yuan was busy until New Year's Eve.
The number of roadshows for "The Storm" was almost twice that of "Bloody Past". As the lead actor, Lin Yuan had to attend all the shows. He didn't have a single day off during the Chinese New Year this year and was even busier than usual.
The crew did prepare a New Year's Eve dinner, but... after dinner, they would face fierce box office competition, and Lin Yuan doubted whether he could sleep well.
The cost of "The Storm" was 500 million. Generally speaking, to break even, the box office needs to be at least 1.5 billion.
The promotional costs for the Spring Festival film season are far higher than usual; otherwise, the director wouldn't have lamented that it was fortunate Lin Yuan joined the cast, which saved a lot on promotional expenses.
"There is definitely pressure," Lin Yuan admitted. "I haven't starred in a movie that has grossed over 1.5 billion yuan yet."
They set a box office target of 1.5 billion right off the bat, which is just to break even. If they really want to make money, 2 billion would probably be a bit more impressive.
Many in the industry believe that Lin Yuan didn't need to put so much pressure on himself.
He could transition to commercial films, but he should learn from Chen Cong and be smarter by acting in more stable productions, or find a male actor who can carry the box office to collaborate with, perhaps in a dual male lead format.
After all, Lin Yuan is very successful in the art film genre, and high box office returns are icing on the cake for him, but it doesn't matter if he doesn't have them.
The final box office of "Bloody Past" was only over 300 million yuan, but that did not stop the audience from thinking that Lin Yuan was very impressive.
But if "The Storm" fails, Lin Yuan's fate... will probably not be good.
A long time ago, everyone saw the ending of the male actor who starred in "The Immortal".
...
Even now, some people still question "The Storm".
Director Fang Qi is just a newcomer in the industry, and the film's technical level has not been verified. If Lin Yuan hadn't been the lead actor, the film might not have even been able to secure funding.
While there are many "want to see" movies right now, there are quite a few films that did well at the box office in the early stages but collapsed later.
"This year, both 'The Storm' and 'Eagle Soars to the Sky' should do well at the box office, but I'm more optimistic about 'Eagle Soars to the Sky,' as it's a patriotic film with a solid foundation."
"The key is the special effects of 'The Storm'. If it can be made well, the box office will definitely be good. The problem is that it is very difficult to make it well."
"+1. However, although the 'Storm' crew seems very confident, there are just too many scam movies of this type. Audiences have been fooled too many times and are now very wary."
"Wanting to see more isn't necessarily a good thing, as it means that the reputation of 'The Storm' will be revealed sooner."
Regardless of outside opinions, the creators were full of confidence in "The Storm" when they were touring the promotional tour.
Lin Yuan said at an event that "The Storm" was the most meaningful work he had ever acted in.
This sentence was naturally captured and widely publicized by marketing accounts.
However, this did not increase the audience's confidence at all.
After all... Lin Yuan had never said that before.
When he doesn't say this, the quality of those works is mostly quite good. But now that he says this, it makes people wonder if "The Storm" has some major flaw that makes Lin Yuan, the lead actor, put so much effort into his wording.
Is "The Storm" doomed?
"Lin Yuan's eyes were glistening with tears during the roadshow. I think... it's dangerous."
Lin Yuan, who was sharing New Year's Eve dinner with the crew, was speechless.
To some extent, the reason why celebrities are talking less and less is also because of these strange interpretations.
His eyes were glistening with tears because he was truly moved by "The Storm," and he naturally hoped that more people could see it.
I really have no other thoughts.
Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore.
Lin Yuan ate his meal and took a sip of orange juice. He felt he had eaten quite little, but when he looked across at the director, he saw that the director had barely touched his chopsticks.
Lin Yuan: "?"
To be honest, Director Fang Qi was quite lively during the promotional events, but he was rather melancholic in private. As the release date approached, this situation became more and more serious.
Lin Yuan glanced at him, and the director's gaze also turned towards him at that moment: "Tomorrow will be the moment that decides our fate."
"Whether you stick your neck out or not, you'll get stabbed." Lin Yuan remained quite calm.
They both invested in "The Storm," so from that perspective, they are a community with a shared future.
The director didn't know what to say, and after a long pause, he only managed to say, "It's good to be rich."
For Lin Yuan, investing in "The Storm" does not affect his current life; his income sources are plentiful and his earnings are continuous. However, for the director, "The Storm" represents the culmination of his entire fortune.
If "The Storm" flops, he will not only have no more movies to make, but he will also become a real poor man.
Lin Yuan could only pat the director on the shoulder and say, "Show the courage you had when you were preparing for this."
When the project "Storm" first started, the director had no distractions and was focused solely on making a good film, so he naturally forgot about the pressure.
Now that the release date is approaching, all the pressure from before seems to have piled up, making him feel melancholy and unable to help but anticipate all sorts of terrible outcomes.
Perhaps he shouldn't be so worried, but he just can't help it.
"It'll be fine tomorrow." Seeing how nervous the director was, Lin Yuan felt less pressured.
...
The Spring Festival film season has finally arrived.
The film "Storm" secured several powerful investors in its later stages, which is why it currently ranks first in terms of screenings, reaching 25%.
The 25% cut for the Spring Festival season means that the production team must have given up a lot of profits when negotiating with theaters.
The pressure to recoup costs has increased.
"The Storm" had the most screenings, followed by "Eagle Soars in the Sky" with 21.9% of screenings, while the remaining films had around 10% of screenings each.
Besides "The Storm" and "Eagle Soars to the Sky", there is also the family drama "Mother", the animated film "Wild Boar Party", the family comedy "Find a Job"... Although "The Storm" has the highest budget, almost every movie that can be released during the Spring Festival is a tough contender.
In previous years, a few bad movies managed to rake in box office revenue during the Spring Festival season, but now, this is becoming increasingly rare, as audiences have long since learned to be selective about what they watch.
The crew of "The Storm" held a premiere event that day. It was very simple. After the event, the crew all rushed to the next city for promotion.
The advantage of no signal on the plane becomes apparent at this time – no one can see the real-time box office figures, and they can only sit there worrying.
...
Meanwhile, the first wave of viewers had already entered the cinema.
"The Storm" had the most screenings and was also absorbing these "want to see" viewers.
"I want to watch 'Mother'."
"Let's go with 'The Storm,' the wait is shorter. 'Mother' is an hour and a half away, and it's crowded and packed with people nearby. Don't make things difficult for yourself, okay?"
"I feel that the reviews for 'Storm' are just so-so. I saw several comments yesterday that guessed its special effects were not good."
"Let's see first and then decide."
Zhu Jian and Nie Xi are a young couple. After much deliberation, they finally chose "The Storm". The mall was packed with people, and the movie theater was too crowded. They couldn't even find a chair. They regretted going out to see a movie on the first day of the Lunar New Year and simply chose "The Storm" which had the earliest release date.
However, Nie Xi still sent the predictions for "The Storm" that she had seen yesterday to Zhu Jian.
"The tickets are so expensive." The two muttered to themselves as they carried popcorn and drinks into the movie theater.
Zhu Jian was starting to regret it. The two of them had spent over 100 yuan on movie tickets, and if the movie wasn't good, it would feel like a waste of money.
Perhaps "Mother" or "Eagle Soars to the Sky" would be better; family dramas and films with a patriotic theme are generally not too bad.
And so the movie began.
In 2XXX, a heavy snowfall struck.
At first, everything seemed ordinary and nothing to worry about, but the heavy snow never stopped, covering not only China, but also the West... even the hottest desert regions.
Zhu Jian: "..."
The special effects look pretty good, very realistic, you can tell they spent a lot of money on it.
The relentless snow has plunged the world into a frigid state.
Humanity faces two choices: upward or downward.
However, the planet that humanity regards as its savior is also facing this icy storm.
Only one option remains.
The protagonist, Qin Ri, and his companions were chosen to begin his journey to explore the Earth's core.
Not only is the snow scene realistic, but the buildings, forests, deserts... all wrapped in ice and snow are equally realistic. Zhu Jian can even see the texture of the covered leaves.
What followed was a long period of exploration.
The scene at the Earth's core appeared before his eyes as if it were real, and the crisis the protagonist faced made him feel as if he were there. Storms, heat... it was as if a fireball was burning in his field of vision.
The towering pillars of fire, the man-made detectors, the ever-encroaching storms... the modeling is weak, giving it only the feel of a live-action film.
Zhu Jian had seen many Hollywood blockbusters, and the scenes in "The Storm" felt to him as if he were seeing a certain Western fantasy trilogy for the first time—mysterious and dreamlike, a strange world unfolding before him.
It's as if this is what the true face of the earth looks like after it's been cut open.
The particles, flames, and explosions engulfing him constantly assaulted his retina.
Zhu Jian initially thought the storm effects were impressive enough, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. The further he looked, the more the enormous creature hidden underwater became apparent.
"The Storm" has a calm grandeur, moving from one enormous world to another.
The macro-level scenes are already breathtaking enough, but on a micro level, "The Storm" also achieves the ultimate in detail.
Zhu Jian was very interested in the vehicle that the protagonist and his group were riding in. It looked somewhat like a space vehicle, but the details were very different. Not only was its performance different, but the mechanical feel of its internal structure was also very strong, with a surprising sense of layering. The black marks from the burns were also very clear.
While watching the movie, he really felt like he had entered this universe himself.
Even if "The Storm" is just a technical spectacle, it's enough to capture the audience's full attention.
Moreover, "Storm" is not just about special effects; it also has a storyline, and the actors' performances are equally remarkable.
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Author's Note: Update!!! [doge][doge]
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