Chapter 932 Aiming for $1 billion!
Starting from the end of June, Lu Yanhe spent almost twenty days promoting "Godless".
This is the longest promotional trip Lu Yanhe has ever participated in.
Ivan, this young man, remained consistent throughout the entire filming process, just as he had during the movie. He wasn't timid or subservient, but consistently respected Lu Yanhe, both in public and in private. Moreover, Lu Yanhe himself could sense that Ivan was genuine, not feigning it.
Actually, it was all an act, and Lu Yanhe understood.
When you're young, who truly respects everyone from the bottom of their heart? It's the time when you're most self-important. So, the more Ivan acted this way, the more Lu Yanhe liked the kid Ivan.
—Ah, actually, after all this time, Lu Yanhe, you still like being flattered. You didn't like it before only because the flattery wasn't sincere or sophisticated.
There were many actors involved in the promotion of "No Gods," totaling more than a dozen.
However, the only ones who truly stayed throughout the entire process were Ivan and Lu Yanhe.
To some extent, Lu Yanhe's relationship with Ivan became closer because of this publicity campaign.
The final stop of the promotional tour was still set in China.
For Hollywood projects that Lu Yanhe is involved in, if there is a large-scale overseas promotional trip, China is usually designated as the last stop.
This seems to have become a default practice.
Lu Yanhe, along with seven or eight members of his crew, participated in the recording of two Chinese talk shows (one of which, "Zhi Xing," remained a regular feature), and also participated in the recording of a nationally popular variety show.
As the host, Lu Yanhe organized a grand party, inviting his friends from China and the creators of "Godless".
"Jump Up" invited renowned Chinese cartoonist Mingniao to create a poster for all the main creators of "Godless," which was then released as the cover of "Jump Up."
On the day "Godless" was released, Lu Yanhe stayed in China, waiting for news.
"Godless" was released simultaneously worldwide.
It also became the only Hollywood blockbuster in China's summer movie season in July.
This is yet another instance in China highlighting Lu Yanhe's special status.
When the film *Agodless* was released, and audiences saw Lu Yanhe's significant role—practically on par with the male lead, Ivan—domestic viewers breathed a sigh of relief. Especially since Lu Yanhe's character was essentially Ivan's mentor.
For some reason, no one wanted to see Lu Yanhe playing a minor role in a Hollywood blockbuster.
Others can do it, but Lu Yanhe cannot.
Unless it's like "Hurricane 2," where the actor is explicitly told they're only doing a cameo role.
The story of "No Gods," although the synopsis tells of a boy stepping into a fantasy world to explore the truth behind the fall of the gods, is essentially about a boy's growth in a fantasy adventure.
Lu Yanhe's character is both a guide like Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings" and a companion like "Uncle Face" in "Kingsman".
His persona is very eye-catching.
Just as every child who watches Harry Potter has an unparalleled fondness for the actors who played Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, if Godless becomes a classic, Lu Yanhe will also become a "wise and kind elder" in the hearts of a generation of children at a young age because of this film series.
"Athena" broke 80 million yuan in pre-sales on its opening day in China, and after its official release, it continued to rake in box office revenue with unstoppable momentum.
Special effects in movies are indeed a box office draw. These mainstream blockbusters are the kinds of films people are most willing to buy tickets to see in theaters—in fact, many viewers consider the question of "whether it's worth it" when deciding whether to pay for a ticket. A crucial question is whether the film can be viewed on a computer, or, like *Life of Pi*, is a movie that must be seen in a theater.
Visual effects play an unparalleled role in this.
The box office performance of "Godless" in China can be monitored in real time.
Unlike in North America, you don't have to wait until the next day to see the preliminary report.
On its opening day, "Godless" grossed 180 million yuan at the Chinese box office.
The next day, 210 million.
On the third day, 150 million.
The box office totaled just over 500 million in its opening weekend, approaching 100 million US dollars.
When the opening weekend box office figures for North America came out, it directly surpassed $100 million, grossing $110 million in its opening weekend.
Including box office revenue from other regions, "Godless" grossed $280 million worldwide in its opening weekend, breaking the record set in the last five years.
Dominating all others.
Its opening weekend box office performance gives it a very good chance of reaching $1 billion in global box office revenue.
Even higher.
Although everyone considered "Godless" a contender for this year's box office champion, it was still very encouraging when it actually achieved such results at the box office.
Every year there are some box office flops, such as Disney's "Snow White" in a parallel universe.
These projects were all conceived with the goal of becoming global box office hits.
Before actually seeing the results in the movie theater, everything is uncertain and risky.
Even if—
The film also features Lu Yanhe, a "box office miracle" who has never lost a film.
This can only boost people's confidence, but it cannot reduce their worries.
Now, the dust has settled.
With a stellar opening weekend and positive audience reviews, even if the subsequent performance is only passable, the film's box office gross will definitely exceed $600 million, which is an outstanding achievement for the movie.
A commentary published in Variety magazine pointed out that after Home Alone 4 grossed $1.1 billion in January, Love is Not Blind $160 million, and The Notebook $300 million worldwide in June, Lu Yanhe's performance in Godless in July made him a global film market sensation. With The Cloud 3 set to be released in August, the box office of films starring or written by Lu Yanhe this year is very likely to exceed $3 billion.
This is a truly terrible result.
People used to say that although Lu Yanhe was a "box office miracle", he did not have any films that achieved top-tier or blockbuster box office success.
His "box office miracles" are often based on the premise of "winning big with small investments" and being a "box office dark horse".
However, there is no actual box office record.
For example, Leonardo DiCaprio's Titanic, Robert Downey Jr.'s Marvel series, and Tom Cruise's Top Gun and Mission: Impossible.
If you want to become a global superstar, how can you do without a movie that dominates the global market?
Now, he has screenwriting credits for the "Home Alone" series and starring credits for "Godless," which looks like another money-making series.
Who can still question Lu Yanhe's status as a global superstar?
...Wait, at this point, some people are still saying that Lu Yanhe is not the main character of "Godless".
The first one is Ivan.
Unfortunately, these nitpickers cannot shake Hollywood's conventions. In Hollywood's view, at least in the first "Godless" film, the absolute core of the movie was Lu Yanhe.
Just like with Will Smith's Aladdin, no one would attribute the film's $1 billion box office success to the lead actor Mena Massoud.
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The box office success of "Godless" immediately put the next two films in the series on the agenda.
This time, Darren Wilson negotiated with Green Valley, directly proposing a base salary of $20 million, with box office revenue sharing to be calculated separately.
Midoriya agreed with almost no objection.
It's only natural that Lu Yanhe would now want a $20 million salary.
It's not an unreasonable request.
Chen Ziyan said to Lu Yanhe, "From now on, you only have one goal for your salary in Hollywood."
"What's your goal? To get a salary higher than $20 million?"
“You can reliably earn $20 million a month in a non-sequel commercial film,” Chen Ziyan said. “It’s not about achieving this in one or two films, but about consistently earning it. That’s what makes you a true member of the $20 million club.”
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"Okay, then I'll keep trying."
Chen Ziyan said, "If you can sign a contract for both 'Godless 2' and 'Mist 3' with a base salary of $20 million, then your career will enter a completely new stage, and you will truly enter the era of superstars."
Lu Yanhe: "If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to reach an agreement, right?"
"Mm." Chen Ziyan nodded.
“However, the $20 million salary for the actor in ‘Godless 2’ is basically the ceiling. Ivankov’s salary will definitely increase in the second film. They won’t let the budget for actor salaries exceed a certain percentage,” Chen Ziyan said. “Even if the production budget for ‘Godless 2’ is increased to $200 million, for a visual effects-focused film like this, the personnel budget generally won’t exceed 35%.”
Lu Yanhe understood.
"good."
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The box office performance of "Godless" is indeed excellent.
After its second week of release, the film has grossed over $800 million worldwide, and the $1 billion target is no longer just a goal.
The global viewing frenzy surrounding this film continues to grow as discussions about its plot intensify.
Lu Yanhe's character is arguably the most popular character in "No God".
Ivan is a protagonist who grows through his character development; his full character arc will only be realized after the trilogy is completed.
However, the character played by Lu Yanhe possesses superb abilities and a well-developed charismatic personality from the very beginning.
Just like Uncle Face in "Kingsman".
After the release of his first movie, Colin Firth's popularity completely surpassed that of the male lead who was portraying a character who was growing up.
For Lu Yanhe, the biggest benefit of this matter was that it made Midoriya quickly agree to Darren Wilson's conditions for participating in the sequel.
Lu Yanhe can directly enjoy 10% of all revenue from "Godless 2" in China, 5% of box office revenue from other regions worldwide, and various other derivative revenues.
The first two points are particularly difficult to negotiate.
Darren Wilson, however, secured the role for Lu Yanhe during the filming of "Godless 2".
Chen Ziyan said that Darren Wilson must have put in a lot of effort this time.
Otherwise, even if Lu Yanhe were at the height of his power, he would have had difficulty obtaining such conditions.
(End of this chapter)
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