Chapter 428: First Week Box Office Record and Film Academy Students’ Reactions (4K)
"Link, how about predicting how much our movie will be box office in China?"
In the business car, Chen Chong handed over a cup of hot coffee with a smile.
"I hope there will be 100 million."
The current domestic film market is relatively small and the box office performance is not high. Last year, the box office champion was "Rush Hour" starring Chen Long, which earned 85 million yuan in the mainland. The box office champion in 1995 was "True Lies" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, with 103 million yuan; in 1994, it was the action movie "The Fugitive" starring Harrison Ford.
However, the films directed by Link cannot be screened on a large scale in China because they involve feudal superstition and bloody violence. The box office of films such as "Seven Deadly Sins", "Final Destination" and "The Butterfly Effect" is only tens of millions. However, it is said that several of his films have sold very well in the pirated disc market.
If "Zheng Chenggong" can get a box office of 100 million in mainland theaters, it will be considered a great success.
"If it's only 100 million yuan, won't the movie lose money?"
Xu Qing smiled.
"It doesn't matter. The movie can still be released overseas. The production cost is over 30 million, so even if there is a loss, it won't be much."
Link shrugged nonchalantly.
Xu Qing looked at him with sparkling eyes, took his hand into her arms and warmed it for him.
The weather in China in February is indeed a bit chilly.
After attending the movie premiere, Link no longer went out. He stayed in his apartment reading movie reviews in the newspaper and occasionally went to the gym and swam with a few women.
On New Year's Eve, except for Gong Li, Yu Feihong and Wang Yan who were away from home all year round and went home to celebrate the New Year, Chen Chong and Chen Hong and other women decided to stay in the apartment to accompany him, put up couplets and hang lanterns in the apartment, buy New Year's goods and prepare a sumptuous dinner.
Link felt the New Year atmosphere again after many years, and his heart was filled with emotion.
In order to reward them, Link also prepared New Year gifts for them, two sets of LV luxury goods and jewelry, and three sets of Victoria's Secret underwear for each person.
The women were very happy and performed a relatively amateur but very sexy and attractive lingerie show for him in the spacious living room of the apartment in the evening.
The sky is full of fireworks outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the scenery inside the windows is no less beautiful than that outside the windows.
——
After the release of "Zheng Chenggong", influenced by the publicity and word-of-mouth of the film, the box office growth continued to increase from the second day.
During the three days during the Chinese New Year, the film grossed 34.45 million yuan in 3,612 theaters, setting a record for the box office premiere of a mainland film. It was also the fastest film in the mainland to break the 30 million yuan box office mark.
Due to the high level of production, positive content and active significance of "Zheng Chenggong", the film also received support from relevant departments after its release. Many places gave the green light to the film and required theaters to cooperate with the film's release.
Starting from the fourth day, the number of theaters showing "Zheng Chenggong" increased to 6,413, including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
It earned 85.8 million yuan in the first week of its release, becoming the fastest film in China to break the 80 million yuan box office mark.
The second place during the same period was "Once Upon a Time in China II" starring Li Lianjie, which earned 18.12 million yuan this week.
The box office performance of the remaining movies was mediocre, only a few hundred thousand yuan.
After the first week's box office results came out, many people called Link to congratulate him and wished "Zheng Chenggong" to make more box office money.
Lin Ke also congratulated his domestic colleagues on the phone. The new box office record set by "Zheng Chenggong" not only represents the success of the film, but also shows that the domestic market has great potential.
It’s not that people don’t want to spend money to watch movies, but that they don’t want to spend money to watch junk movies.
As long as filmmakers make movies seriously and make more interesting, meaningful and sincere movies, there will be more moviegoers in China in the future and the film market will be larger.
Media such as Southern Weekend, China Metropolis Daily and Youth Daily praised Zheng Chenggong highly.
He said that "Zheng Chenggong" is the first epic historical film completed by domestic producers and a classic work that surpasses the level of Hollywood movies. He also suggested that domestic filmmakers learn more from the "Zheng Chenggong" crew, draw on the successful experience of "Zheng Chenggong" and promote domestic films to catch up with Hollywood movies at an early date.
The official media also arranged for reporters to interview famous filmmakers such as Director Zhang Da, Director Chen Kaige, Director Tian Zhuangzhuang, Director Zhao Baogang, and Chen Long to hear their comments on "Zheng Chenggong".
They gave the film extremely high praise in the interview and praised it highly.
Many people gave the movie 120 points, and the extra 20 points are because this movie has a special significance that other movies do not have.
During the release of "Zheng Chenggong", Lin Ke was invited to participate in two TV interview programs to answer some questions that everyone is concerned about and to wish the domestic audience a happy new year.
"Link is so handsome."
In a private house in a Beijing alley, Mei Ting, an actor from the 1996 class of the Central Academy of Drama, was holding a playing card in her hand. She looked back at Link, who was wearing a casual suit on TV, and could not help but exclaim in admiration. Suddenly she thought of several of her classmates there, and her face became red.
"Being handsome isn't the point! The point is that this guy is a millionaire, worth tens of billions of dollars. Do you know how much that is in RMB? Over 70 billion. Oh my God, I can't even take out 700 yuan right now."
Qin Hailu, who was from the same major, was cracking melon seeds and praising the subject.
"Not that many. Last year, a financial magazine said that Link was worth more than $6 billion, making him the third richest Chinese."
Hu Jing blinked her big eyes and said.
"That's the data from the beginning of last year. I've been learning English recently and I've been reading English magazines and newspapers. It says that several of Link's companies have good operating results, their stocks have soared, and his net worth has exceeded 10 billion US dollars. Do you know Bill Gates' Microsoft? He is also a shareholder of this company. He is so rich."
Qin Hailu spat out the melon seed shells.
"Link is only five or six years older than us, how can he be so powerful?"
Yuan Quan sighed.
"Yes, at the age of 25, he is worth tens of billions, and he has made so many great movies and won almost all the international film awards. The key is that he is still so handsome and has such a good figure."
"Hey! We're playing cards. Can you guys pay attention and stop talking about men?"
The boy Liu Ye knocked on the table in dissatisfaction.
"You're the ones who asked us to come over to play cards, and now you're watching TV all the time. That's not how it should be done."
Qin Hao also looked at the big cards in his hands and made a dissatisfied expression.
"No, playing cards is boring. It's better to listen to what Link has to say."
Mei Ting put down the cards and concentrated on watching TV.
"Playing cards is really boring."
Hu Jing, Qin Hailu, Zhang Ziyi, Yuan Quan and others followed the card throwing game and walked to the TV, then picked up the remote control and turned up the volume.
Liu Ye and Qin Hao rolled their eyes helplessly.
On TV, Link was talking about movies with Jiang Wen and director Feng Xiaoning. Mei Ting and Hu Jing were listening attentively, looking at Link without blinking.
"Have you watched "Zheng Chenggong"? I watched it at home during the Chinese New Year."
Hu Jing asked.
"I've watched it. Twice."
"Me too, I went to see it the first time I saw the promotional poster, and my brother dragged me to see it the second time, saying it was a patriotic movie and I had to watch it twice to show my support."
"Zheng Chenggong is really well-made. The camera shots, costumes, special effects, and dubbing are of such high quality that domestic films look shoddy in comparison."
"You get what you pay for. The newspaper said that the production cost of Zheng Chenggong was more than 50 million US dollars, which is 350 million RMB. 350 million RMB, if you give it to me, I can become the richest woman in China."
"Link spent so much money on making the movie, aren't you afraid of losing money?"
"He's worth billions of dollars, so what's the big deal about losing a little money? Besides, this movie is great, so maybe we can make the money back at the box office."
"I also heard that Link invested in this film as a tribute to 1997."
"I've heard that, too. Link is a true patriot."
"Link is not only good-looking, but also rich, talented, and patriotic. He's perfect. I wish he was my boyfriend."
"Haha, the little girl misses a man."
Several women were laughing in front of the TV.
Liu Ye and Qin Hao couldn't listen any longer and interrupted, "Sisters, have you figured out the situation? Although Zheng Chenggong is good, the director is Feng Xiaoning, Chen Kaige, and Tsui Hark, not Link. What's the point of praising Link?"
As soon as Liu Ye finished speaking, he was fiercely refuted by several girls, who said that Lin Ke was the screenwriter, editor, producer, and investor of "Zheng Chenggong", and was also the backbone of the film.
The quality of this film depends entirely on him.
Director Feng and the others had to obey his instructions, and if the filming was not good, Link would ask for it to be redone.
It can be said that Link is the key to the success of this movie. Without Link, there would be no movie.
"Is there anything wrong with us praising Link?" Qin Hailu rolled his eyes at him.
"That's right. Link spent hundreds of millions to make this great movie and helped Chinese films grow. If we don't praise him, should we praise you?" Hu Jing said.
Liu Ye and Qin Hao were left speechless by the argument.
"Okay, even if you are right, and this movie is Link's credit, but you praise Link as a good man, isn't that too unrealistic?"
Liu Ye pointed at Link on TV and said, "The Hong Kong media said he has more than 100 girlfriends, including Diana, Sandra Bullock, Jodie Foster, Jennifer Connelly, Brooke Shields, and Hong Kong's Rosamund Kwan, Michelle Reis, Vivian Chow, etc. There are also several female stars in our mainland entertainment circle who are his girlfriends. Can a promiscuous playboy like him be considered a good man?"
"More than a hundred girlfriends must be fake. He shoots three movies a year and manages multiple companies. How can he have time to date more than a hundred girlfriends? This news must be made up by the American media. They saw that Link was too perfect, so they deliberately made up some fake news to ruin his reputation."
Mei Ting was the first to launch a rebuttal.
"I don't think it's true. If he said he had three or four girlfriends, I would believe it. But those media said he had more than a hundred. Every actress he worked with had one, even women in their 30s and 40s like Diana, Michelle Pfeiffer, Joan Chen, and Brigitte Lin. Haha, this kind of news is fake at first glance."
Hu Jing also supports that Link is a good man.
"As the old saying goes, appearance is determined by the heart. Take a close look at Link's face and temperament. Do you think he looks like a lecher?"
Qin Hailu asked, pointing at the TV screen.
Mei Ting, Zhang Ziyi and Hu Jing shook their heads repeatedly, not like him, not at all.
A lustful man has dirty eyes and an unclean temperament. You can smell the greasy smell of gutter oil from a long distance away.
Link has a handsome face, extraordinary appearance, clean and pure temperament, and some aura of a superior. This kind of person does not look like a lustful person at all.
Liu Ye and Qin Hao felt helpless when they heard this. Although the domestic control over foreign news is relatively strict, entertainment news is slightly more relaxed.
Through the southern media, everyone can learn about some things in the foreign entertainment industry, such as McDonald's sister Madonna, muscular men Schwarzenegger and Stallone, handsome man Tom Cruise, the Beatles, etc.
Through these channels, everyone has some understanding of Link, including that he is worth more than 6 billion US dollars, the third richest Chinese, a big director, a famous playboy, etc. Since Link visited the mainland last year, everyone also knows that he is a great philanthropist and a Chinese with conscience.
There have been many reports in foreign and southern media about Link being a playboy, listing many female stars who have had relationships with him and publishing photos of him with many female stars, from Monica to Daena, all of whom are beautiful women with sexy figures.
These news were clearly published in the newspapers, but girls like Mei Ting and Qin Hailu admired Link too much and did not believe the news was true. They firmly believed that Link was a good man.
Liu Ye couldn't help but think of a phrase: lust blinds one's mind, which was referring to them.
"Well, even if you don't believe the news in the newspaper, what do you think about Zeng Li, our classmate?"
Liu Ye's question caused several girls present to fall silent.
Although due to harmony reasons, they were unable to see the news in the newspaper about actresses such as Zeng Li picking them up at the airport, they could clearly see the changes in their classmate Zeng Li over the past six months.
Zeng Li is a classmate of everyone and roommate with Zhang Ziyi and Yuan Quan. Because of her beauty, she has been voted as the school belle and one of the 'Six Golden Flowers' since the beginning of the school year.
Also because of her outstanding image and the fact that she had been practicing drama since childhood, she had good acting skills. Only three weeks after school started, she was signed by Dongfeng Pictures and indirectly became an employee of Link.
If it was just a contract with Dongfeng Pictures, they wouldn't think much about it.
But last September, when Lin Ke came to China, Zeng Li asked for a week's leave on the pretext of having something to do. When she came back from vacation, everyone was surprised to find that Zeng Li had changed a lot. She had become mature, dressed more beautifully and fashionably, had a small mobile phone in her hand, had many famous brand clothes in her closet, and had many sets of exquisite jewelry in the small boxes in the drawer.
Before they could figure out what was going on, Zeng Li moved out of the dormitory, saying she was renting a house outside, but rumors said she had a commercial apartment within the Second Ring Road in Beijing.
When Lin Ke returned to China this time, Zeng Li once again accompanied Chen Chong to Dahai City and attended the premiere ceremony of the movie "Zheng Chenggong".
In many news photos, she often appears not far from Link.
As women, Mei Ting and her friends are more sensitive to the changes in their peers. They keenly realize that the rumors may be true, and Zeng Li and Link have an ambiguous relationship.
They had complicated feelings about this speculation. At first they were a little contemptuous, thinking that girls doing such things were immoral and depraved.
But think about the fact that the person she fell for was Link, a billionaire, a world-class director, one of the giants in the film industry, and a great philanthropist.
Link is also handsome, with a tall and straight figure and a mature and steady temperament. He is a hundred times better than those boys in the school who claim to be the school idol.
In addition, if the jewelry in Zeng Li's cabinet and the real estate outside were given by Link, this also shows that Link is a very generous man who takes good care of women and is not the kind of bad man who plays with feelings and bodies.
Mei Ting and the others were not sure if they could have the heart to reject this kind of man if they met him.
So after hearing about Zeng Li's situation, they felt very complicated, a little bit of contempt, a little bit of envy, and a little bit of inexplicable expectation.
"hehe!"
Seeing that the girls had fallen silent, Liu Ye smiled smugly, "Do you still think Link is a good man now?"
Qin Hai rolled his eyes at him, "Why do you care what we think? You are a grown man, but you don't do your job all day long. You just gossip about other people's affairs. Are you proud of doing this?"
"I didn't! I mentioned Zeng Li's matter only to advise you to be more sober and not to misjudge her." Liu Ye retorted.
"Shut up! Watch TV quietly."
Qin Hailu and the others ignored him and stared at Link on TV.
Liu Ye wanted to say something else, but Qin Hao pulled his sleeve and told him to stop. These women knew exactly who Link was, so there was no need for him to remind them.
Liu Ye felt very disappointed. Zeng Li fell into depravity because she couldn't resist the temptation of money. Mei Ting and others didn't care about the stain on Link because he was rich. Is money really that important?
He suddenly realized that there was a sadly thick barrier between him and the girls in his class.
On TV, Lin Ke was still being interviewed by the host Yang Lanlan. He talked about some things about the movie "Zheng Chenggong", including the reasons for writing the script, the considerations in hiring the director, and issues such as film investment and returns.
"Alas, I originally thought that the difference between Link and I was mainly in talent, but now I realize that what I lack more is vision, knowledge, and a global perspective."
In the office, Director Zhang sighed while watching TV.
Director Gu, Director Feng and others nodded silently. Lin Ke is a billionaire and stands at the highest level of the film industry. His vision far exceeds that of ordinary directors. They cannot compare with him in this respect.
What they can do now is to follow the path opened up by Link and keep groping forward. They believe that they will succeed one day and Chinese films will be even more successful.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
