Chapter 473 I Like It Too
On December 23rd, the second Friday of the release of "The Great Wall", a total of 5 movies were released on that day.
Among them, the most anticipated by the audience is naturally "Railroad Tigers" starring Cheng Long, and joined by young actors such as Huang Zitao, Wang Kai, and Wang Dalu, as well as the romantic comedy "The Ferryman" which is Zhang Jiajia's directorial debut, produced by Wang Jiawei, and co-starred by many movie stars such as Liang Chaowei, Jin Chengwu, Chen Yixun, and baby.
Both films are star-studded. Railroad Tigers has Cheng Long as the lead, while The Ferryman is starred by Wang Jiawei. In addition to six well-known movie stars such as Liang Chaowei, even the supporting roles are familiar celebrity faces. Li Yuchun makes a friendly guest appearance, and Lu Han also makes a friendly appearance. It can be said to be a truly star-studded film.
As expected, on the 23rd, "The Great Wall", which had been released for 7 days, was impacted by "Railroad Tigers" and "The Ferryman", and its national screening share dropped sharply from more than 40% to 19.5%.
[Railroad Tigers] accounted for 29% of the screenings on the first day, ranking second in the country on that day.
The first one is the most popular "The Ferryman", which accounted for 37.4% of the national screenings on the first day of its release.
On Friday, influenced by the release of new films, the national single-day box office reached a recent high.
On the 8th day after its release, the single-day box office of "The Great Wall" dropped to 36.74 million. "Railroad Tigers" earned 55.76 million on its first day, and the most anticipated "The Ferryman" won the national box office championship that day with a box office of 81.42 million.
In the following two days of the weekend, "Railroad Tigers" and "The Ferryman" continued to perform well, with box office results of 162 million yuan and 198 million yuan respectively.
However, after the first three days, the reputation of the two new movies gradually fermented.
[Railroad Tigers] Fortunately, Jackie Chan's films are usually of a certain quality.
The movie is adapted from "Railway Guerrillas". Cheng Long brought his own comedy style into this former red classic, and redecorated the railway anti-Japanese war with humor, making "Railroad Tigers" glow with a new vitality.
In terms of plot conception, "Railroad Tigers" actually doesn't have much novelty, but Jackie Chan's kung fu humor and numerous jokes make this new work particularly entertaining compared to the old version.
Of course, the movie is full of plot bugs and flaws. You can't treat it as a feature film, otherwise it will feel like an anti-Japanese drama. As a simple brainless comedy movie, it is still quite qualified.
However, there is one point that has been questioned by the audience, that is, the Dragon Prince, who has committed a crime, actually appears in the movie openly.
Although there is no trace of Prince Long in the publicity and posters, he can be seen from time to time in the movie.
In fact, not only the audience, but also Gu Wei found it a little hard to accept. He understood Cheng Long's love for his son as a father, but as someone who had played a drug enforcement police in "Operation Mekong", he was particularly sensitive to this aspect and would never have any sympathy for drug addicts.
Compared with "Railroad Tigers", the reputation of "The Ferryman" collapsed more completely.
Three days after its release, this movie, which assembled almost the strongest lineup, completely fell in love.
The film's noisy and exaggerated tone and decadent colors are filled with a decadent atmosphere, while the stories between the three core characters (Liang Chaowei and Du Juan, Jin Chengwu and Zhang Rongrong, baby and Chen Yixun) are soft and boneless, and the emotional outbursts seem very far-fetched. As for resonating with the audience, there is no way to mention it.
Everyone thought that "The Ferryman" would be another classic masterpiece shot by Wang Jiawei through Zhang Jiajia's hands. After all, in this movie, Director Wang is not only the producer but also the producer and screenwriter. However, it turned out that Zhang Jiajia used Wang Jiawei's coat to shoot a movie of Wang Jing.
After the release of "The Ferryman", Douban's opening score was only 3.9 points, which is even worse than last week's controversial "The Great Wall".
Moreover, there were people who supported the special effects of The Great Wall and Director Zhang's use of colors. However, "The Ferryman" received almost unanimous negative reviews from audiences and critics. As a literary and artistic film with a plot, it is not easy to make everyone dislike it so unanimously.
After all these years of watching movies at the cinema, this is the first time I left before half an hour had passed. I feel sorry for Liang Chaowei and Jin Chengwu, who have lost their integrity in their later years.
After watching The Ferryman, I feel like I should apologize to The Great Wall. Zhang Yimou's films aren't that bad after all.
Zhang Jiajia's wish is: Don't let Guo Xiaosi dominate the world alone!
This film probably represents the current collapse of aesthetics, turning all the popular favorites like inspirational stories, petty bourgeoisie, fresh and clean style, street culture, etc. into a pot of shit!
【Ignorance led me to the cinema】
【.】
Amidst the criticism, the usually deep and mysterious King of Sunglasses could no longer sit still.
On December 25, he finally spoke out, his thick literary tone revealing a hint of his "reclusive" stubbornness and arrogance:
“In fact, the world is so big that it is not just divided into north and south.
To seek perfection blindly is to be complacent.
To you it's just a movie, but to me it's a world.
As the saying goes, great success begins with imperfections; only with imperfections can there be progress.
The ferryman, ferrying others and himself - I like it.
Merry Christmas! "
I can only say that sometimes, some people just can't recognize themselves or their works.
There is no need to mention Wang Jiawei's status in the film and television industry. He is an absolute great director of art films. He has won countless honors and has also shot classic films such as "In the Mood for Love", "Chungking Express" and "Happy Together".
But now, facing the criticism and accusations from the audience, he chooses to believe in himself and completely rejects the negative comments. I am not wrong, it is the world that is wrong.
Interestingly, whether it was to curry favor with the renowned director or simply to follow the trend, Wang Jiawei's post on Weibo, "I like it," sparked a chorus of responses from almost half the entertainment industry: "I like it too!"
In addition to the main actors of the film such as Jin Chengwu, Liang Chaowei, baby, and Chen Yixun, celebrities from all walks of life in the entertainment industry such as Huang Xiaoming, Chen Kun, Ou Hao, Li Chen, Li Yifeng, and Yang Kun came out to support Director Wang.
Even Zhou Xingchi, who is also a famous director, wrote the words "I like it too" in big strokes and posted it on Weibo to express his support for Wang Jiawei.
In the office, Gu Wei looked at the excitement on the Internet with a hint of sarcasm on his face.
After being in the industry for so long, Gu Wei has directed two movies and filmed so many dramas. He has become a top star in the entertainment industry, but he has always had a very clear understanding of himself.
Whether it is a director or an actor, the ultimate goal of filming a film or TV series is to show it to the audience. To put it bluntly, there is no essential difference between it and a chef who cooks or Tony who cuts the hair.
Everyone makes a living by their skills. If you make a good film, the audience likes it, you make money, and everyone is happy.
What Wang Jiawei did is like a chef preparing a meal and serving it to the table. The diner took a bite and said it was a piece of feces. The chef was not convinced and said that the diner did not know how to appreciate delicious food. It was unpalatable to him, but it was delicious to many people.
Due to the chef's status in the culinary world, many chefs in the same field have praised him, saying that Chef Wang's dish is indeed delicious and we all like it very much.
But the key point is, aren’t you cooking for customers to eat? If you cook well, you should eat it yourself. No one will care even if it tastes bad. Since customers have paid for your food, isn’t it normal for them to give you a review?
Moreover, according to the current situation, it is not just one or two film critics who are deliberately discrediting this movie. Netizens generally believe that what you filmed is a piece of shit.
Since you have become a whore, don't think about pretending to be a chastity woman. When you are beaten, you should stand at attention instead of being tough.
In fact, Wang Jiawei is not the only one who has this problem. Many well-known domestic directors have this problem.
The most typical example is Director Chen. "The Promise" was criticized as a bad movie, but Director Chen was also not convinced and said that you, the audience, will not understand this story within 20 years. It seems that 20 years are almost up, and still no one has come out to vindicate "The Promise".
It is normal for art to be too high-brow for the masses, but you cannot make something for your own amusement and expect everyone to like it and make money from the audience. You cannot have the best of both worlds.
"Boss, regarding [The Ferryman], should we make a statement and express our support for Wang Jiawei?
Maybe there will be opportunities to work together in the future~"
Gu Wei raised his eyebrows.
"No need. I've seen the movie, it's really a bad one. Wang Jia is just a bitch, he's not worthy enough for me to befriend him against my will!
Besides, given Director Wang’s habit of filming, even if a good film really comes to me in the future, I have to consider whether the shooting period is appropriate.
It takes several years to shoot a film, so I don’t have the time to accompany him in polishing the lenses.
He is a great director of art films, but he is not the only director who can really make good art films."
Gu Wei thought about it again.
"Please tell all the agents in the company not to follow suit and flatter others.
If there is no conflict, there is no need to step on the other party, and there is no need to actively curry favor with them."
"clear!"
Yang Liwen nodded thoughtfully.
"Boss, the endorsement contract with Bulgari has been basically finalized. If there are no problems, the contract will be signed in the next two days, and they will officially announce it on New Year's Day."
Gu Wei was not surprised at all. The cooperation with Bulgari had been discussed before. At the same time, Coca-Cola and Porsche had released their global advertising, and Bulgari only decided on it after that. It was considered very slow.
In fact, Bulgari is quite eager to invite Gu Wei to become its new global spokesperson.
LV, a global luxury brand also under the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy Group, has seen its sales increase year by year since 2015 after reaching a cooperation with Vidal Gu, making Bulgari, a member of the same group, very jealous.
Especially now that the Chinese market accounts for an increasingly larger share of the global luxury market, Gu Wei, the top star in the domestic entertainment industry, is increasingly valued by major luxury companies.
The contract dispute over the past month was mainly because Bulgari wanted Gu Wei to take on more offline promotion tasks during his time as spokesperson. Gu Wei is a relatively lazy person. He can use my photos and videos, but I am not very happy about him always running events.
So the endorsement that was originally discussed at the end of October was delayed until the end of December before an agreement was reached.
"The endorsement fee offered by Bulgari is still US$10 million for two years, which is less than that of some international superstars in Europe and the United States.
Nowadays, the endorsement fees of top international superstars are generally between 15 million and 20 million US dollars for two years.
It’s like when you, the boss, endorse Coca-Cola, and because there is a competitor called Pepsi, they will give you the top offer.
However, your endorsement fee is among the highest in the domestic entertainment industry and even in the entire Asian entertainment industry.
The endorsement fees for international brands of top stars in the Japanese and Korean entertainment circles and other top stars in our country are generally between US$5 million and US$8 million for two years, and some are even lower.
Of course, most of them have title brand ambassadors, Asian regional spokespersons, and spokespersons for a single product category, but there are very few true global spokespersons."
"How was the roadshow for [Love Saint]?"
After talking about endorsements, Gu Wei asked about the company’s movie that would be released in a few days.
"This year the crew held a meet-and-greet in Shenzhen, and also had a preview screening.
The national roadshow has achieved good results in recent period. The audience response after the preview is generally good and the atmosphere on the scene is also good.
Just like the previous film The Great Wall, many viewers who watched the preview said, "Boss, your role is too small, and you die at the beginning."
As Yang Liwen spoke, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.
Gu Wei was also speechless.
He just made a guest appearance and also contributed the first "black and white photo" in his acting career. What else do you want from him?
A county town in a remote western region, the best hotel in the area.
"Sister Yifei~
Uncle and aunt asked us to go eat."
Nazha was wearing a very casual outfit, which made her look a bit plain compared to her usual appearance in the camera, but her face was still far more beautiful than ordinary people.
After returning from a fashion show in Paris, she joined Gu Wei's charity fund with Liu Yifei. The two followed Gu Wei's parents to the mountainous areas of Yunnan and Guizhou, experiencing many things that they would not normally see and helping more people in need.
"Got it, I'll be right there~
The primary school we visited this morning was so remote that the car was shaking so much that I felt like I was falling apart."
Liu Yifei was wearing a light blue pullover and had little makeup on. She was leaning on the sofa in the room, looking tired.
She stared at the phone in her hand, her fingers sliding from time to time, her eyes rolling, not knowing what she was thinking.
"What are you looking at? So serious."
Naza asked curiously as she sat on the armrest of the sofa.
"A movie that's been going viral online these days, 'The Ferryman,' directed by Zhang Jiajia and written and produced by Wang Jiawei, has been causing a lot of controversy online lately."
Although she hasn't seen the movie yet, Liu Yifei has a very good impression of Wang Jiawei. She likes talented directors and wondered if she should speak out to express her support for Director Wang.
"I know about this. My agent told me about it earlier~"
"Oh? What did you say?"
Liu Yifei asked curiously.
"Gu Wei has seen this movie and said it's a bad one. He told our company's artists not to lick Wang Jiawei's boots."
Nazha is not interested in art films at all. She only likes to be famous and become a big star. She has no pursuit in art, and she doesn't think there is anything wrong with saying this.
Liu Yifei frowned after hearing her words.
"What's with 'licking' Wang Jiawei? It's just a way for everyone to express their support for art."
"I think what Gu Wei said is correct. The other celebrities online are just trying to curry favor with the famous director. Maybe some of them really like the movie, but since Gu Wei said it was a bad movie, I still believe him more."
After hearing her words, Liu Yifei thought about it and changed her mind about supporting Wang Jiawei. After all, compared with Director Wang, whom she didn't know, she trusted Gu Wei's vision more.
Thinking of this she put her phone in her pocket and stood up.
"Okay, let's go, don't keep uncle and aunt waiting anxiously."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
