Chapter 740 He is an all-round player
The special day has brought unprecedented prosperity to this year's National Day film market.
"My People, My Country" broke the 2.8 billion box office in three weeks after its release, and "The Captain" also broke the 2.6 billion box office after a long period of strong performance.
Even the much-criticized "The Climbers" managed to break the 1 billion mark at the box office, so there was no problem with profitability.
In late October, as the box office of the three films gradually declined, the entire domestic film market slowly returned to its normal state.
Although 4K versions of main-theme movies such as "Founding Ceremony", "Across the Yangtze River", and "Red Son Goes to a Meeting Alone" were released, they did not make any splash at the box office.
On October 22, the official Weibo account of [Better Days] announced the start of pre-sales.
Then, in just two days, the movie’s pre-sale box office quickly exceeded 100 million yuan.
No one expected that a youth drama with the theme of school bullying would be so popular, but considering that the male lead is Gu Wei, it is normal.
Even if the subject matter is not appealing, with Gu Wei's super high popularity and huge fan base, as long as the movie is released, there will be a basic box office base.
On the 24th, Gu Wei's plane landed in Beijing at noon.
I went back to the company to take a brief rest, and then went to the premiere of "Better Days" with Zhou Yao.
"Brother Wei, how do you like my outfit?"
In the nanny car, Zhou Ye was wearing a blue long dress, with her black hair draped over her shoulders. She had a clean face with delicate features. She looked at Gu Wei opposite her with a sweet smile.
"Yes, very beautiful!" Gu Wei nodded with a smile.
Zhou Ye has excellent facial features and is invincible in youth. At only 20 years old, she is full of youthful vitality.
"How are your scripts going lately?"
At the end of last month, after Gu Wei returned to Beijing, he confirmed that Zhou Ye would play the role in "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils", and the company has not arranged any other work for her recently.
"I read the script several times and memorized all my lines. I was very dedicated!"
"Although Cheng Xiaomei's role doesn't have many scenes, it has a certain depth. You have to grasp the character's personality and inner state to play it well."
Zhou Ye scratched his head and said, "Then I'll go back to school and ask my acting teacher for advice?"
"No, we have acting teachers in our company."
"Who is it?" Zhou Ye asked curiously.
"Zhang Songwen, he used to be an acting trainer. You are all actors in [Zhou Chu Eliminates the Three Evils]. I'll say hello to him later, and you can go and ask him for advice."
I first met Zhang Songwen when I was looking for an acting teacher for Nazha during the filming of "Love O2O". He is best at teaching people how to act.
"OK."
It didn't take long for the nanny car to arrive outside the premiere venue, and Gu Wei took Zhou Ye in through a special passage.
"Brother Wei, Xiaoye!"
Inside the venue, Zhang Zifeng, who was wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans and short hair, saw Gu Wei leading Zhou Ye in and happily extended his hand to greet them.
"Zifeng, I haven't seen you for a few months. You seem to have gained a little weight."
Gu Wei said with a smile.
The last time the two met was when they were filming "Detective Chinatown 3".
Zhang Zifeng, who had a happy face, immediately pouted when he heard his words.
"No, I'm not getting fat. I've always been very careful about controlling my weight, okay?"
"Haha, you're not fat, I was mistaken~" Gu Wei teased her with a smile.
"Gu Wei!" Director Zeng Guoxiang saw him and walked over with joy on his face.
"Director Zeng~"
"I just checked, and our movie's pre-sales have already exceeded 160 million RMB. Based on the current trend, pre-sales will likely exceed 200 million RMB when it premieres tomorrow at midnight!"
Zeng Guoxiang was a little excited. When he was preparing for the movie, he knew that Gu Wei's joining would definitely make the movie a big hit at the box office, otherwise he would not agree to give him a 40% investment share.
But he never expected that the pre-sale alone would almost make back his investment even though the movie hasn't been released yet. It seems that the future box office of this movie will be far more than 500 million or 800 million, and it is entirely possible that it will exceed 1 billion.
Zeng Guoxiang's previous film, "Suddenly Love You", although well-received, only grossed 170 million yuan at the box office.
Now, "Better Days" is also not a commercial film. He thought that even with Gu Wei joining, the box office might only be 500 million or 800 million.
Now it seems that he is still conservative.
“Congratulations, no, I should say congratulations.
Pre-sales are just the beginning. I believe that with the excellent quality of our film, everyone will be satisfied!" Gu Wei is confident that with his box office appeal, there is no problem for "Better Days" to surpass the original version at the box office.
Although the female lead has been changed from Zhou Dongyu to Zhang Zifeng, and seems to be less famous, Zhou Dongyu has never had box office appeal, and the high box office of the original version has little to do with her.
In a horizontal comparison, Gu Wei crushes Si Zi in all aspects. Under the same conditions, he will naturally achieve greater success.
The premiere of [Youth of a Youngster] was held the day before the nationwide release.
In addition to inviting some media people and film critics in the circle, the remaining audience tickets were distributed through lottery to some lucky local audiences in Beijing.
Wang Fang is such a lucky audience member.
She participated in the lottery with her classmates at school, but among dozens of people, only she and her good friend Zhang Yinghui were lucky enough to be selected.
"Xiaohui, did you notice that there are so many celebrities at the premiere today? I just saw several celebrity faces."
In the theater, the two girls' seats were at the back. Wang Fang opened her eyes wide, looked around, and spoke in a low voice.
"Look, isn't that Lu Han wearing a hat over there?"
“That should be the case, the person next to him seems to be Huang Zitao.
Lu Han seems to have a very good relationship with Gu Wei. He was criticized so badly in the "Shanghai Fortress" this year, and it was Gu Wei who spoke up for him.
Both girls are loyal fans of Gu Wei and know everything about him.
"Actually, I don't quite understand. Logically, they're both top stars, so our brother and Lu Han should be competitors, but they seem to have always had a pretty good relationship."
Zhang Yinghui smiled slightly: "You think too simply.
Gu Wei has been more than just a top star for many years.
He has completely distanced himself from other young male artists.
Their resources are not on the same level, so of course there is no competition."
Wang Fang nodded thoughtfully, then smiled: "Brother is still the best!"
Not long after the two sat down, the host opened the show, and then the main creators walked onto the stage.
Gu Wei stood in the center, with director Zeng Guoxiang on his left and the heroine Zhang Zifeng on his right.
His appearance naturally caused constant screams in the venue.
"Wow! Bro is so handsome!"
"Gu Wei, look here, we will always love you!"
"The movie is a big hit, you're the best!"
“.”
After a while, the screams of the fans present finally stopped with the host's comfort, and everyone could feel Gu Wei's invincible popularity.
After the usual self-introductions, the main creators expressed their thoughts on the movie, and then the screening began.
The main creators left the stage and the lights in the theater gradually dimmed.
“Does any of you know the difference between was and use to be?”
The film begins with a scene of Chen Nian teaching children in the classroom.
Zhang Zifeng has a mature makeup and a soft, sunny smile.
"Which classmate knows?"
"Was means in the past." A student's voice came.
"Actually, both of them mean once upon a time, but the difference is that if you use 'use to be', it has a sense of losing paradise. Do you remember that?
Let’s read it again together.”
"This used to be our playground."
"This was our playground."
“.”
As English sentence after sentence was read aloud, the camera slowly turned to a little girl in the classroom who did not raise her head, as if conveying some deeper meaning to the audience.
Then the scene changed, and Gu Wei's face appeared on the big screen, with a warm smile and a light in his eyes.
Then came Zhang Zifeng with the same smile, but she looked much more immature than at the beginning.
"Gu Wei is so handsome, it's obvious he's without makeup in this shot, but he's still so handsome.
My heart melted in his smile."
"Not to mention their looks, their temperament is also very sunny, the two of them are full of youthful energy!"
"Zhang Zifeng has really grown up. In my impression, she has always been a child."
At the beginning, everyone talked for a few words, and the theater returned to calm. Then the camera switched to the campus.
Although the theme of "Better Days" was revealed during its promotion, which was about school bullying, the audience obviously did not think that this subject matter would be too distressing.
At the beginning of the movie, the girl who committed suicide by jumping off the building shocked everyone.
Afterwards, Zhang Zifeng was bullied by her classmates and beaten by other girls, which was even more infuriating to watch.
"This Wei Lai is so disgusting! How can he be so vicious at such a young age?"
"It's so infuriating! If I had a child like that, I would strangle her to death!"
"That's so abominable. I really want to slap her twice."
Zhou Ye, who was in the audience, heard the audience's whispers and her face was not very good. She knew it was due to her role, but who doesn't want to be liked by the audience?
Gu Wei turned to look at Zhou Ye and noticed her dissatisfaction. He whispered to her, "The more the audience hates you, the better your acting is. It's something to be proud of."
Zhou Ye heard it and pursed his lips: "I know, but it always feels bad. I still want to play the good guy."
Gu Wei smiled and said, "There will be plenty of opportunities in the future."
The movie continues.
Xiaobei and Chen Nian met by chance. They felt sympathy for each other because of the same misfortune and became friends for warmth.
This is the most heartwarming part in the movie.
Then, something even more heartbreaking happened.
Xiaobei was taken away by the police for questioning. Chen Nian, who had no one to protect her, was bullied by Wei Lai and his gang. She was not only beaten but also had her hair cut.
Xiaobei was furious when he came back and wanted to take revenge, but was stopped by Chen Nian. He also cut his hair to accompany Chen Nian.
In the audience, many girls sobbed and wiped tears from their faces when they saw this scene.
Yang Yinghui looked at the big screen, sniffed, and thought of something.
"I heard that the original female lead for this movie was Zhou Dongyu, but she refused to have her hair cut for this scene and acted like a big shot on set, which annoyed Gu Wei, so she was replaced by Zhang Zifeng."
"Is it true?" Wang Fang didn't care about crying when she heard this gossip. She turned around and looked at her best friend in surprise.
"This news came out during the filming of Better Days and was reported by some media outlets. I don't know if it's true or not.
But it is definitely true that Zhou Dongyu was replaced."
"Luckily Zhou Dongyu was replaced. She's not very pretty. I wouldn't be able to watch her in this role. She doesn't match Gu Wei very well."
The movie was still playing. Wei Lai begged Chen Nian for mercy, but she accidentally pushed him down the stairs and he died, which made many viewers feel relieved.
But Chen Nian killed someone, which made everyone nervous again because the college entrance examination was about to begin.
Xiaobei dumped the body and took the blame, and Chen Nian passed the college entrance examination.
Finally, under the persuasion of police officer Zheng Yi, Chen Nian told the truth, and both of them were imprisoned.
At the end of the film, Chen Nian finally became a teacher after being released from prison, and Xiaobei still silently protected her behind her back.
Text scrolled on the big screen, and Gu Wei's magnetic voice told about the country's positive measures for the protection of minors.
Including the [Law on the Protection of Minors], [Guiding Opinions on Preventing Bullying and Violence among Primary and Secondary School Students], [Comprehensive Management Plan for Strengthening Bullying among Primary and Secondary School Students], etc.
"When families, society, you and me, everyone contributes a little, we can protect young people and protect the world!"
After the last sentence was said, Gu Wei's figure also faded away, and the ending theme song [fly] was played.
The theater was lit up, and many viewers were still immersed in the movie.
A few seconds later, thunderous applause broke out in the theater and lasted for a long time.
Many viewers had tears in their eyes and clapped their hands vigorously to express their love for the movie.
The main creators took the stage again and started the audience interaction session after the screening.
At this time, the audience realized that there were so many big stars attending the premiere ceremony.
Wu Jing, who was sitting in the front row, stood up first and took the microphone.
"Gu Wei and I are old friends, and we have worked together on many films.
But every time I watch Gu Wei’s new movie, I feel surprised, and every time I see him, I have a different feeling because he is always growing.
You can think about all his works over the years.
Romance films, detective comedies, fantasy films, police and gangster films, military films, science fiction films, including today's unique feature films like "Better Days", everyone can find that Gu Wei has been trying new things. He does not define himself, but tries different film genres and roles as much as possible.
I think this is what a real actor should do!
Most importantly, every new attempt he makes is successful because Gu Wei truly puts his heart into making films, and every audience member can see that.”
After Wu Jing finished speaking, applause broke out again in the venue.
It may seem like commercial hype, but if you think about it, it's actually true.
Many actors in the entertainment industry only shoot the kind of dramas they are good at. For example, comedians generally only shoot comedies, action stars shoot action movies, and some only shoot youth romance movies.
It’s not that they can’t make other types of movies, but it’s very easy to fail if they change.
Everyone likes to stay in their comfort zone, except Gu Wei, who has tried various genres of movies one after another since his debut, and has always been successful.
After Wu Jing finished speaking, he handed the microphone to Lu Han on the other side.
"Brother Wei's film 'Better Days' is so good, I couldn't help crying just now.
Bullying in schools is a very common yet serious problem. I hope this movie can help more people pay attention to it!"
After he finished speaking, he sat down. Huang Zitao next to him stood up, not knowing what to say.
"Brother Lu said exactly what I wanted to say. Brother Wei is awesome, he acted so well. Little sister Zhang Zifeng also acted very well. Your smile really scared me back then."
After he finished speaking, everyone laughed again.
(End of this chapter)
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