Chapter 226 I Don’t Want to Keep Picking Up Others’ Leftovers
Liu Yifei sat on the sofa with her back straight and legs together, exuding a dignified temperament.
"Gu Wei, do you think that future animated films in our country will be as exciting as 'The Monkey King: Hero is Back'?"
“It’s hard to say, there are always those who are just filling in the gaps.
However, after this time, it has set a benchmark in the Chinese animation film industry. Whenever a new film is released in the future, people will involuntarily compare it with "The Monkey King: Hero is Back."
Overall, it is beneficial to the development of Chinese animated films."
Gu Wei thought for a moment and said:
"I can't comment on what others are doing, but my company is currently producing an animated film that I believe is no less impressive than 'The Monkey King: Hero is Back,' and may even be better."
"Your company can also produce animated films?"
Liu Yifei was very surprised. She knew that Gu Wei's company made movies and TV series, but she didn't expect that they could also produce cartoons.
"To be precise, it's another animation production company under my name. It's just one floor downstairs. If you're interested, I can take you to have a look."
"Is it convenient?"
"It's nothing. Come on, I'll take you downstairs to have a look."
Gu Wei left immediately and quickly brought the curious Liu Yifei downstairs.
There is a large sign hanging at the front desk on this floor, with the same large characters as those on the upper floor: [Wei Ming Tian Xia Animation Production Company].
These two floors were bought by Gu Wei last year, and the lower floor is used as the office of the animation company.
The boss Gu Wei brought his guests to inspect, and Director Jiaozi, who received the news, naturally received them personally.
"Boss, take a look. These are the original manuscripts for the animated film. There are over 20 versions of Nezha's image alone. It took more than a year to finalize the final version."
Jiaozi took the two of them to visit the production of "Nezha: The Devil Child Comes into the World".
It has been a year since he led his team to join Gu Wei's company, and the production of "Nezha" has begun to show results.
Liu Yifei looked at the more than 20 versions of Nezha in the manuscript. Whether it was body shape, face shape, hairstyle or accessories, almost nothing was repeated, which was consistent with the overall characteristics of the individual characters. There were also some cute and interesting designs.
"Why did you choose this image? It's a bit ugly. There are so many other cute and good-looking images."
Liu Yifei asked puzzledly while holding the final draft of Nezha.
"Um~ Miss Liu, this involves the entire plot of the movie. In the early stages of the movie, Nezha is a character that everyone hates. If he's too cute or good-looking, it won't fit the character setting."
Director Jiaozi explained.
Liu Yifei listened with a confused look.
Accompanied by Jiaozi, the two of them took a tour from beginning to end, and Gu Wei also took this opportunity to learn about the production progress of "Nezha".
According to the director, it is estimated that it will take nearly two years to complete the production, and the entire film took a total of three years.
This also explains why other film companies are reluctant to invest in animated films. The production cycle is too long, and there are too many variables involved. Once something happens, their investment may be lost.
After the tour, Liu Yifei's curiosity was fully satisfied, and Gu Wei took her to the restaurant they had booked downstairs for dinner.
Gu Wei is an old customer, and the private room and food assistant were arranged clearly in advance, just downstairs from Gu Wei's company.
After dinner, Gu Wei drove Liu Yifei back home.
"Gu Wei, I had a lot of fun having you play with me for half a day today.
Thank you! "
Liu Yifei said to Gu Wei with a smile on her face when she was about to get off the car.
"It's nothing, we are good friends~
Right, Sister Yifei."
Gu Wei replied.
As the Chinese New Year draws closer, the movie-watching craze sparked by "The Monkey King: Hero is Back" is getting more and more intense.
On the 15th, the third day of the film's release, cinemas across the country were still packed with people watching the film.
On that day, "The Monkey King: Hero is Back" achieved a box office revenue of 102.3 million yuan, breaking the 100 million yuan mark for two consecutive days, and exceeding 300 million yuan in the first three days of the week.
Now everyone knows that a real box office blockbuster for the 2015 Lunar New Year holiday is coming!
At the same time, the romantic film "Somewhere Only We Know", which was highly anticipated by major film companies, saw a staggering drop in box office revenue on the second day of its release.
The movie's box office on Sunday was only 36.57 million, which is a good result for an average low-budget romance film. However, the box office on Valentine's Day yesterday was 93.96 million. This is not just a halving, but a cut from the knee.
Although the box office exceeded 100 million yuan in two days after its release and the film has already made a profit, it still disappointed the film's producers and other film and television companies that were waiting and watching.
But this is not surprising. The quality of the movie "There Is a Place Only We Know" is average. After its release, its Douban score was only 5.7, which is considered average among low-budget romance movies. It cannot be called a bad movie, but it can only be said to be mediocre.
The high box office results on the first day were achieved, on the one hand, due to the support of Li Jiaheng's fans, who flocked to the theater to support their idol after the movie was released. In addition, with the blessing of Valentine's Day, many couples naturally chose to watch a romance movie when they entered the cinema.
But the energy of fans is ultimately limited, and after the first day, without the blessing of timing, the box office naturally returned to the normal trajectory of a romance movie.
On Monday, the 16th, the second week of its release, the box office of "The Monkey King: Hero is Back" was cut in half, only 58.97 million. However, this is not surprising. Such a drop on a weekday was also expected by everyone.
The box office of "There's a Place Only We Know" dropped again on Monday, closing at 20.89 million. Although the drop was not as big as "The Monkey King: Hero is Back", the difference in single-day box office data was too big.
On the 17th, the box office of "The Monkey King: Hero is Back" did not fall again, but maintained a steady development, with a total box office of 55.47 million for the day.
[There is a place only we know] fell below 20 million, closing at 16.87 million.
In a villa in Beijing, Li Jiaheng was wearing casual clothes, had blond hair, and was wearing many metal accessories.
He sat on the sofa, hunched over, holding the box office data of all the movies released in recent days in his hand, brows furrowed.
"The box office was about to break 100 million on the first day, so why did it drop so much afterwards?"
His agent Huang Bin stood opposite and explained calmly:
"The first day was just due to Valentine's Day, but the subsequent box office performance was normal."
“I don’t understand how a cartoon can achieve such high scores?
Just because Gu Wei is the producer?"
"The box office success of the cartoon in the first two days was definitely due to Gu Wei. As far as I know, many of his fans went to the cinema on the first day to support the movie.
However, the quality of "The Monkey King: Hero is Back" is indeed very good, which is a common perception in the industry. In addition, there were no blockbusters competing with it during this period. Given the right time, place, and people, it is normal for it to have such a box office performance."
"So this is considered a failure for my first film after returning to China?"
Li Jiaheng stood up from the sofa, walked around a little irritably, and his voice became much louder.
"Don't worry too much. According to the current box office trend, [There's a Place Only We Know] will have no problem breaking 200 million, but 300 million will be a big challenge.
If we calculate it based on the cost, this movie will have already made back its investment in the first week, and it will definitely make a lot of money in the end, it’s just a matter of how much it makes.”
Huang Bin comforted.
"What you should be considering now is the competition with your former teammate Lu Han. You two are both top stars who returned from Korea. You are very similar in many aspects and are in direct competition for resources in the circle.
Fortunately, although his first movie after his return, "20 Again", had a slightly higher box office than yours, you were the male lead in the movie and he was only the second male lead, so it's a draw in this respect.
You should perform well in the movie "Old Cannon" you are going to shoot now. It is directed by Guan Hu and starred by Feng Xiaogang. The box office and word of mouth will not be low. With the blessing of this movie, your future path will be smoother.
And I am now helping you contact Zhou Xingchi and Xu Ke. Once successful, I can help you get the top film resources in the circle.
If you play that role well, you will soar to the sky!"
Huang Bin said a lot. He used to be Huang Xiaoming's agent. He has been in the circle for many years and has a wide network of contacts.
After Lu Han and Li Jiaheng returned to China, he was optimistic about the traffic star's hot popularity and super high fan stickiness, and chose Li Jiaheng between the two and became his agent.
Li Jiaheng was able to cooperate with major domestic film and television companies as soon as he returned to China, and he made great contributions.
"After filming Zhou Xingchi's movie, can my popularity surpass Gu Wei's?"
Li Jiaheng asked excitedly.
Ever since he met Gu Wei at the Bazaar Charity Night last year, he had been thinking about comparing himself with him.
"Gu Wei~"
Huang Bin frowned and said:
“This person has not been in the industry for long and is very young, but he has developed very rapidly.
Moreover, we cannot simply regard him as a popular idol star. The film and television company under his name has gradually grown and developed, and he has good relations with various bigwigs in the circle.
You should just ignore him for now. I heard he doesn't take on many outside roles, so it won't have much impact on you."
"It's not a big impact. I heard that he found me because he didn't want all my resources now.
It feels bad to always pick up other people’s leftovers! "
Li Jiaheng said in a deep voice, and it can be seen that he is very unhappy with the current situation.
Huang Bin looked at his face and said:
"I heard that your other two teammates also want to return to China. There are also some young male stars emerging in China. It is better to suppress these people first, and then consider the comparison with Gu Wei."
2
(End of this chapter)
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