Chapter 737 I am the Drama King
During the National Day holiday, the drastic drop in temperatures in many parts of the country contrasted sharply with the explosive growth of the mainland film market.
According to the "golden rule" that the quality of the film determines the box office capacity of the period, the 2019 National Day period has unprecedented sales capacity.
From September 30th to October 7th, a total of 9 new films were released, with a total of 123 million moviegoers nationwide and 2.9073 million screenings. In eight days, the box office revenue reached 5.048 billion yuan, surpassing all previous National Day box office figures.
In terms of individual films, the top three National Day films contributed nearly 97% of the box office during the period.
Among them, "My People, My Country" ranked first in the box office of the period with a score of 2.203 billion.
At present, the cumulative box office of this film has reached 2.228 billion, and the final box office is expected to hit the 3 billion mark.
"The Captain", which ranked second in the period with a box office of 1.915 billion, has now accumulated a total box office of nearly 2 billion.
"The Climbers", which was released simultaneously in North America and the UK, ranked third in the box office of the period with a score of 777 million.
The combination of multiple favorable factors, namely "the right time, the right place and the right people", has made this year's National Day box office the strongest in history.
"Congratulations, Brother Wei! You've bagged another blockbuster movie with over 2 billion in sales. The total box office of the movies you've starred in is heading towards 30 billion. That's incredible!"
In the crew of [Joy of Life], during the break in filming, everyone talked about several movies that were currently being screened during the National Day holiday. Guo Qilin looked at Gu Wei with envy.
“[My Country, My Parents] doesn’t really count. Although I was the lead actor in the [Return] segment, I appeared for less than 5 minutes and filmed it in a few days.
This type of unit film relies on the theme, and the role played by a single star is very limited, so it can hardly be considered an achievement."
Gu Wei waved his hand. Although "My People, My Country" was a big hit, he didn't take it too seriously. He initially took on this film just to complete the task.
Tian Xiwei's eyes rolled. "According to what you said, Brother Wei, the post by Du Jiang Studio online about 'celebrating Du Jiang's starring role breaking 10 billion at the box office' is ridiculous!"
"Have the box office of the movies starring Du Jiang exceeded 10 billion? When?" Jing Tian looked confused.
Da Tiantian was once a movie star and had seen the world. She knew very well what it meant in the domestic entertainment industry for a movie starring her to have a box office of over 10 billion yuan.
Don’t be fooled by the fact that movies starring Gu Wei often gross 20 to 30 billion yuan, as if getting high box office is very easy, but that is Gu Wei, and he is the only one of his kind in the domestic entertainment industry.
In fact, an ordinary movie can be considered a big hit if it can make 300 to 500 million yuan.
To break 10 billion in total box office revenue requires not only strength but also luck.
“It was posted yesterday, and I saw it this morning when I was online.
Last month's "The Bravest", the National Day "My People, My Country" and "The Captain", plus the previous "Operation Red Sea" and other movies, Du Jiang's total box office just exceeded 10 billion.
His studio issued a statement to celebrate Mr. Du Jiang becoming the sixth male actor in the Chinese entertainment industry to reach 10 billion yuan after Wei Ge, Wu Jing, Huang Bo, Chen Teng, and Deng Chao.
Yang Chaoyue, who was quietly listening to their conversation, ate an apple and opened his eyes wide: "Du Jiang, this billionaire actor, is too watery.
It seems like he's not the lead in any of these movies."
Tian Xi smiled and nodded: "Yes, the male lead of [Operation Red Sea] is Zhang Yi, [The Bravest] is Huang Xiaoming, [The Captain] is Zhang Hanyu, and [My People, My Country] is even better, he played the flag bearer beside Brother Wei.
Netizens say Du Jiang is just trying to get to the top, and the so-called billionaire actor has no real value at all.
"I don't understand the purpose of his team doing this. It doesn't bring any benefit and will only attract ridicule from netizens," Yang Chaoyue muttered while chewing an apple.
Gu Wei smiled and said, "It's not that there are no benefits at all. Although they are all supporting roles, it is very rare for Du Jiang to be able to participate in these big projects.
He has a decent image and a tough guy temperament. There are not many actors of this type in the domestic entertainment industry. With such a reputation, he will get more opportunities in the future."
Yang Chaoyue swallowed the apple in his mouth and said: "I don't know why, but I always feel that Du Jiang has no presence. It's like watching Operation Red Sea before. I can remember Zhang Yi after watching it, but if I didn't look at the cast list, I wouldn't even know that Du Jiang had acted in this movie."
"Hahaha!"
Everyone laughed when she finished speaking.
"Chao Yue, when you have the chance to meet Du Jiang in the future, tell him these things in person~" Gu Wei said with a smile.
"I'm not stupid."
Jing Tian also covered his mouth and laughed, "After all, he is a handsome guy. Is it because he is face-blind to surpass you?"
"No, I think he's good-looking too, but I don't really have any impression of his roles in movies. The only thing I remember is him appearing on 'Where Are We Going, Dad?' and that was because of his son 'Ahem'."
Yang Chaoyue spread his hands, looking like he was helpless.
"Boss, do you think The Climbers is really bad? I've been watching the news these past two days, and it has received the most negative reviews among the three films released during the National Day holiday," Tian Xiwei asked.
“I met Wu Jing before and talked to him. Actually, the subject matter and story of this movie are very good, but there were some problems during the filming.
Li Rengang's ability is limited, and he still has the mindset of Hong Kong films. When shooting a mainstream film like The Climbers, he seems to miss the point."
"I know that the most criticized part of this movie by the audience is the love line," said Tian Xiwei.
Gu Wei nodded and said, "That's right, it doesn't mean that a main theme movie can't have a love storyline, but we have to make sure the main and secondary parts are clear, and the secondary parts can't overshadow the main part.
[The Climber] is not just about a simple mountain climb, it concerns the sovereignty and dignity of a country.
In the 1960s, the ownership of Mount Everest was in the hottest negotiations. my country and Nepal wanted to divide it in half each because Mount Everest was on the border between the two countries, but Nepal did not agree.
At the same time, in 1953, people from Nepal had already reached the summit of Mount Everest, and foreign media also believed that my country could not complete this arduous task. Therefore, my country advanced towards Mount Everest under tremendous pressure. This is the main significance of mountaineering.
As a main theme movie released during the National Day holiday, the glory and sense of mission of climbing Mount Everest are the focus of the movie.
However, the patriotic sentiment that should have been expressed here was greatly reduced, replaced by a love story that took over the main theme. The climax scene after climbing Mount Everest was also reduced to Fang Wuzhou's confession to Xu Ying, "I want to marry you."
Guo Qilin nodded in agreement.
"It's a pity for Brother Jing because the reputation and box office of "The Climbers" were not ideal. Many netizens felt that this was the end of his box office legend.
Some also said that without your cooperation, he would not be able to support the high box office on his own."
"Nonsense, blaming the actors if the film is bad is like blaming the food on its freshness if the chef's cooking is bad.
In a movie, the director has the right to choose and decide who to use and who not to use, and what effect to achieve.
So if a movie turns out poorly, it’s first the director’s fault, and then the actors’.
Wu Jing took on "The Climber" out of favor. He even approached me at the beginning and hoped that I would join him.
I didn't have the schedule at the time and after getting to know the other creators, I declined without hesitation."
"Did you know at that time that "The Climber" would not be a good film?" Jingtian asked.
"I have a hunch. The female lead is Zhang Ziyi, and with her status, she definitely can't just play a cameo role in the movie. She's bound to have to add some emotional scenes, which deviates from the main plot.
Another thing is that I didn’t trust Li Rengang, but it turned out that he didn’t disappoint me.
Of course, the most important thing is that this movie is a tribute film controlled by Shanghai Film Group, so even if I join, I don’t have much say.
The movies I starred in before were either controlled by my own company or had my investment in them. If I encountered a plot that I was not satisfied with, I had the right to make adjustments.
For example, for the drama "Joy of Life" we are currently filming, I only approved the script if I was satisfied with it. If I felt that any scene was not good during the filming, I would communicate with the director and he would change it.
This feeling is what I want. I don’t like being a puppet without any control.”
"Tsk tsk, Brother Wei, your current realm is beyond the reach of us little actors.
We just thought it was good enough to perform well according to the director and the script, but it’s far from what you did,” said Guo Qilin.
Jing Tian stared at Gu Wei with her beautiful eyes and said, "I feel that you are more like a person now."
"who?"
"Jiang Wen!"
"What's the similarity between him and me?" Gu Wei was confused.
"Even though I'm just an actor, I still want the film to be made according to my own ideas. The films I act in all have a strong personal style!"
"I'm domineering? I don't feel that~
Qilin, am I overbearing? "Gu Wei asked the others.
Guo Qilin smiled and said: "Brother Wei, you are not overbearing, you are domineering.
And he is always very gentle when he is with us."
Jing Tian continued, "You may not feel it yourself, because every time there is a disagreement, the director will listen to you. Just like when we were filming Si Teng together, sometimes you felt that a scene was not right and wanted to change the lines and actions, and even the opponent's actors had to change them. The director listened to you without hesitation."
"Because I was right. When the TV series came out later, it proved that the effect of the changes I made was indeed good." Gu Wei looked innocent.
"But this is not something an actor should worry about. Moreover, in most cases, even if the director is wrong, he will stick to his own ideas. After all, the director has his own authority in the crew. I have seen this before in filming."
Gu Wei thought about it and it seemed that what Jing Tian said was correct.
Not to mention the film and television dramas controlled by his own company, he is the boss himself, so of course what he says is what it is. Directors work for him, and only a mentally ill person would go against him.
It seems that he also has the habit of changing the plot and script when filming other dramas, just like when filming "The Wandering Earth", he changed a lot of scenes in the original script, and Guo Fan undoubtedly listened to him.
The same goes for [Wolf Warrior 2]. Wu Jing has a good relationship with him, so Gu Wei made some suggestions and they discussed and made changes.
When filming "Time Raiders", Liu Yifei always listened to the director and did whatever he asked her to shoot. Gu Wei always had some ideas of his own since he had seen the original version, but Su Lun and Xu Zheng never said anything and just listened to him.
"When you said that, I just realized that I am the drama queen!
I think he was more obedient when he debuted with "The Swordsman", but after filming "Detective Chinatown 1", I made a lot of changes to the script every time I filmed a movie!
Gu Wei scratched his head.
"No one had mentioned it before, so I thought everyone was satisfied."
"When you're shooting your own drama, you're the boss. When you're shooting for others, you're the God of Wealth. Even if the production company wants to change the director, they won't replace you. So no director would want to offend you, so of course they'll do what you say.
You haven't worked with big directors like Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Feng Xiaogang, and Zhou Xingchi, so no one will have any objections to your ideas."
Jingtian saw it very clearly.
After Gu Wei became famous, the box office of the movies he made became higher and higher, but he has never collaborated with any big directors, which is quite strange.
In fact, these top domestic directors have all invited him. Brother Chen Kai had invited Gu Wei to shoot "Legend of the Cat Demon", Feng Xiaogang had invited Gu Wei to shoot "Youth", and Zhou Xingchi had invited Gu Wei to shoot "Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back", but he did not accept any of them.
"Of course not, didn't we film the Great Wall together?"
"Come on, you just played a cameo role, with two lines and three scenes. They originally invited you to play the role of Lu Han, but you refused."
Jingtian exposed him without hesitation.
"Hey, I have to be more careful about this in the future. If I ever run into a director with a tough personality and we start arguing, it'll damage my reputation if it gets out."
Gu Wei doesn't want to appear domineering to others, and he wants to redeem himself.
Yang Chaoyue added, "Boss, you don't need to pay attention.
Have you forgotten that last year during the filming of Better Days, you lost your temper on set and kicked Zhou Dongyu out? Everyone in the industry knows about it, and I guess no one would make you unhappy."
Gu Wei glared at Yang Chaoyue after hearing this and said, "You are the only one who talks too much. Don't talk about me outside anymore!"
Yang Chaoyue had been his personal assistant for nearly two years, and she knew a lot about Gu Wei.
"Don't worry, boss. I'm very tight-lipped and never tell anyone about you."
Yang Chaoyue raised his hand and made a zipper gesture to his mouth as a guarantee.
"The key point is that the [Better Days] incident was a huge commotion at the time, and everyone knew about it."
Gu Wei turned to look at the others.
Jing Tian smiled and nodded, Tian Xiwei blinked his big eyes: "Boss, I must know everything in the company."
Guo Qilin smiled flatteringly: "Brother Wei, should I say I know or not?"
"You're the only one who keeps talking nonsense!" Gu Wei said unhappily, and everyone laughed.
"After the show tonight, let's go out and watch a movie together.
The three National Day films are so popular, and I haven't seen them yet." Jing Tian suggested.
"This is good, I want to see it too."
"Let's take a break and watch a movie."
Others echoed.
"That's no problem. I'll arrange whatever you want to see," said Gu Wei.
"Which one do you want to see?" Jingtian asked the two little girls.
"Let's watch "My People, My Country". This movie is the hottest right now, and the boss is here." After Tian Xiwei finished speaking, everyone nodded.
“Okay, then let’s look at this.
I'll have someone book a restaurant and rent out the theater. We'll go out for dinner after the show and then go to the theater." Gu Wei made the decision and thought about it.
"Chao Yue, go tell Huang Mengying and call her along.
Qilin called Zhang Haowei and Liu Duanduan, and told them to come if they wanted to, as they were all young people.
Zhang Haowei plays the crown prince, and Liu Duanduan plays the second prince. Both of them have important roles, and they have been working together and getting along well these days.
(End of this chapter)
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