Chapter 827 Unparalleled Energy
In today's domestic film market, the Spring Festival period undoubtedly has the highest box office and the most intense competition, and is one of the top periods of the year.
Then comes the Lunar New Year, summer vacation and National Day periods.
The Lunar New Year holiday was once the biggest box office hit, but now it has been replaced by the Spring Festival holiday. However, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse.
Thanks to the students' vacation, the summer season has produced top hits such as "Wolf Warrior 2" and "Detective Chinatown 2" that have sold billions of dollars.
The National Day holiday season was popular due to the popularity of main-theme movies in recent years. The hot sales of movies such as "My People, My Country" and "My Hometown and I" have boosted the National Day season season.
The May Day holiday is slightly shorter, so its box office and popularity are far less than the previous four periods, but it is still better than Valentine's Day, Qingming Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and other holidays.
The competition in this year's May Day period is quite fierce, with seven new domestic films choosing to be released during this period.
Relying on the huge box office advantage accumulated in the early stage of its release, the movie "Your Wedding" won the May Day box office championship with a box office of 660 million.
Following closely behind is the spy war blockbuster "On the Cliff" directed by Zhang Yimou, which ranked second with a box office of 570 million yuan.
Judging from the box office alone, "Your Wedding" is undoubtedly the biggest winner. The film achieved a super high box office of 140 million on the first day of its release. In just three days, the cumulative box office exceeded 424 million. For a low-cost domestic romance film, this is obviously an unimaginable hit.
Although "Your Wedding" performed well at the box office, its reputation was very average.
The Douban score is only 5.2 points, and the comments are full of criticism.
But such a movie won the May Day box office championship. It can only be said that the film company's marketing was indeed in place.
New actress Zhang Ruonan also gained popularity thanks to the movie and was hailed as the new "national first love" by many fans, giving her a similar feeling to Michelle Chen when "Those Years" was a hit.
[On the Cliff] brings together many powerful actors such as Zhang Yi, Yu Hewei, Qin Hailu, etc., coupled with the fame of director Zhang Yimou, the film has received countless attention before it was released.
After the movie was released, it did not disappoint. The actors' outstanding acting skills and the ups and downs of the story throughout the movie won unanimous praise from the audience.
As word of mouth continues to spread, "On the Cliff" has surpassed "Your Wedding" in single-day box office for many consecutive days. Judging from the current situation, it is only a matter of time before the box office surpasses "Your Wedding".
Apart from the two films mentioned above competing for the top spot, the other works are basically evenly matched.
[Sweeping Black and the Decisive Battle] has a cumulative box office of 124 million yuan, [Chasing Tigers and Catching Dragons] has a cumulative box office of 165 million yuan, and [Secret Visitor] has a box office of 192 million yuan. These three movies form the "second echelon" of the May Day period.
The two films at the end of the queue are "Sunshine Robbers" starring Ma Li and Song Jia, and "Searching for a Man" starring Ren Suxi and Li Baotian.
"Sunny Robbers" earned 40 million yuan at the box office during the May Day holiday, while "Searching for a Man" only had a pitiful 2.32 million yuan.
But although both films came in last place, they are very different.
The rating of "The Eye Robbers" is only 4.2, which is not as good as "Your Wedding". It is a completely bad movie.
Although "The Man Who Came From Heaven" had the lowest box office, its rating was second only to "On the Cliff", ranking second among the films with a rating of 6.9.
[Sunny Robbers] flopped because the movie was really bad. Without Chen Teng, Ma Li alone could not carry the box office.
The problem with "Searching for a Man" was that the publicity and promotion did not keep up. The original investment cost of the film was very low, and the money invested in publicity and promotion was even less. In addition, there were no famous traffic stars, and the wine would not be popular if it was not well-known. Naturally, the box office was not ideal in the end.
"Why wasn't your film [The Crowd] scheduled for the May Day holiday?"
During the lunch break on the set of "Changjin Lake", Wu Jing and Gu Wei were chatting about the recently released movies.
After taking a leave of absence for a while, Gu Wei returned to the crew to continue filming after finishing all his work.
The filming of [Changjin Lake] - or to be more precise, [Watergate Bridge] has also reached the final stage and will be wrapped up in about a month.
“We originally planned to release it during the May Day holiday, but after communicating with the theater chain, they wanted to release ‘The Crowd’ in mid-May, hoping to use this movie to fill the market gap after the May Day holiday.
The cinema chain has guaranteed the number of screenings, so I don’t think it’s that important whether it’s released during the May Day holiday.” Gu Wei said as he picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs from the bowl and ate.
Wu Jing nodded and suddenly thought of something.
"I remember Fast & Furious 9 was also released this month, right?"
"Yes, the week after [The Crowd]."
"Aren't you afraid of competing with Furious 9 and affecting the movie's box office?"
Wu Jing's worries are not unreasonable. You know, the "Fast and Furious" series has a lot of fans in China.
"The Furious 7" and "The Furious 8" each earned over 2 billion yuan in box office revenue in the Chinese market, so this year's "The Furious 9" is also highly anticipated by the audience.
Gu Wei smiled and said, "What are you afraid of? 'The Crowd' will have a first-mover advantage by opening a week earlier. Besides, it's better if the market is heated up. A single tree cannot make a forest. Competition is actually good for the box office."
"That's right. With your box office appeal, you really don't have to worry about Fast & Furious 9, unless it can be as explosive as Avengers 4."
Gu Wei looked at Wu Jing with a smile, but secretly shook his head in his heart.
How can "Furious 9" possibly compare to "Avengers 4"? It is far inferior to the first two films.
[Fast and Furious] As a traditional Hollywood popcorn movie, it has actually been on a downward spiral since the seventh installment. By the ninth installment, the director had let himself go, and from the story and plot, it was completely a Hollywood "god drama", similar to the domestic "Hand-Tearing Devils".
The protagonist's halo is almost invincible. All enemies are like paper in front of them. They will kill anyone who stands in their way, even if it is a Buddha.
The next films in this series will only be about space racing and family fighting aliens.
"I checked today's data online, and the box office for 'On the Cliff' is about to break 1 billion. Director Zhang is still as good as ever!
The reviews online are quite good, so you should go see this movie when you have time."
“Although I haven’t seen the movie, I have read the script of [On the Cliff].
Director Zhang invited me when we were preparing for the film. He wanted me to play the role of Zhu Yawen, and to play with Liu Haocun.
Wu Jing asked curiously, "Why didn't you agree? That's Zhang Yimou!"
Gu Wei shrugged: "No schedule.
I have been busy from last year till now, so how could I have the time to shoot "On the Cliff"?
"That's a shame. I've always wanted to work with director Zhang Yimou, but unfortunately I didn't have the chance."
Although the box office of the "Wolf Warrior" series directed by Wu Jing far exceeds that of Zhang Yimou's films, box office cannot determine everything.
Even though Zhang Yimou has not yet made a movie that has grossed billions of yuan, it does not affect his status as China's number one director. The title of "National Master" was just a nickname back then, but now it has been recognized by the people and officials across the country.
Gu Wei also had some emotion: "I met Director Zhang when I was filming The Great Wall. Sometimes when I think about it, I can't help but admire him.
He is 70 years old this year. It is said that it is rare for a person to live to be 70 years old, but he looks as energetic as a young man in his twenties or thirties.
In recent years, he has directed one or two films almost every year. In addition to "One Second" and "On the Cliff" which have already been released, I know that he is also preparing two films "Sniper" and "Rock Solid" this year.
The most exaggerated thing is that they can also take on some official tasks and serve as the chief director of some major events.
You say this kind of work efficiency and spirit doesn't look like that of a 70-year-old man."
Zhang Yimou was the chief director of the large-scale live performance "Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" held in Tiananmen Square in 2019.
After this activity was completed, Director Zhang filmed "One Second" and also served as the chief producer of "My Hometown and Me".
In addition to preparing the two films mentioned by Gu Wei, he has also taken on another official task and become the chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2022 Winter Olympics.
You have to know that being a director actually requires much more time and energy than an actor. Zhang Yimou's abundant energy and positive work attitude can definitely make most young directors in the circle feel ashamed.
"Now that you mention it, if I ever meet Director Zhang, I'll have to ask him for his beauty secrets. If I learn them, I can still fight for another 20 years."
Hearing Wu Jing say this, Gu Wei also laughed: "No need to ask Director Zhang, if you have a chance, go ask Brother Cheng Long. I remember he was born in 1954, which means he is exactly 20 years older than you. He is still as good as ever.
I heard that he is preparing a movie called "Dragon Horse Spirit", which tells the story of stuntmen in Hong Kong movies.
I feel like Brother Cheng Long can still shoot for many more years."
May 13th.
Gu Wei, who had been back on set for two weeks of filming, took another leave. "The Crowd" was about to be released, so he came out to attend the premiere of the movie, and then followed the main creative crew on a two-day roadshow.
The "Happy Camp" and "Running Man" that she participated in with Reba have already been aired, and the concentrated publicity in recent times has also made the fame of "The Crowd" spread a lot.
"Excuse me, Mr. Gu Wei, what made you take on the role of [The Crowd]?"
Reporters present at the premiere interviewed the creators on stage.
“In fact, it was Director Rao who approached me first. He said he wanted to make such a movie, which was very interesting, and that the role of Chen Xiaomeng in the movie was particularly suitable for me.
Later I read the script and found the story to be really interesting, but my character was too decadent.
I told him that it didn’t match my image.”
Everyone laughed when he said this.
"Then Director Rao said that this would create a sense of contrast, and that playing this kind of role would better highlight my acting skills.
I was fooled by him into taking this role."
"What considerations did Director Rao have in selecting the actors for the role?" the reporter asked Rao Xiaozhi again.
"Of course it's about the suitability of the roles. I think the main actors are the most suitable to play the roles in the movie.
It turns out that my idea was correct.”
"We all know that this is your second time working with Gu Wei, Mr. Zhang Songwen. Does it feel different from the previous filming of [Zhou Chu Eliminates the Three Evils]?"
Zhang Songwen took the microphone from Rao Xiaozhi and said with a smile: "Of course it's different.
In [Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils], I played the villain, the leader of a cult, who was the opposite of Gu Wei's character.
This time we are a team.”
Gu Wei laughed and said, "But you are still a killer this time."
"But as a killer, I have never killed anyone, but saved many people!"
"Haha, that's right, he looks like a killer but is actually an actor"
As a comedy film, "The Crowd" is qualified.
After the interview, a movie was shown. From the beginning to the end, bursts of laughter could be heard from the venue from time to time.
Seeing this situation, Rao Xiaozhi felt a lot more relieved.
"My crew hasn't finished filming yet, so I can only go on a roadshow with the team for two days. I'll leave the rest to Director Rao." After the premiere, Gu Wei said to Rao Xiaozhi.
"Don't worry, Mr. Gu. I'm familiar with leading the team for roadshows. There won't be any problems."
After hesitating for a moment, he couldn't help but ask.
"The film market has been a bit sluggish recently after the May Day holiday. Do you think our film has any hope of achieving high box office success?"
Gu Wei turned and looked at him: "What are your expectations?"
"If we're just looking at the quality of the film, I think the box office is going to be between 500 million and 1 billion, but with you joining, it's going to be at least 2 billion."
Gu Wei laughed after hearing what he said, and reached out to pat Rao Xiaozhi on the shoulder: "Who did you learn this flattery from?"
"That's not flattery, it's the truth!"
"Okay, I'll take that as the truth."
Gu Wei thought for a moment and said, "Actually, if you ask me to predict, I don't have an accurate number in mind.
But I think the number you mentioned at the beginning is fine, but I can’t say what the final height will be.”
Gu Wei was speaking the truth.
The original version of "Raging Fire" grossed over 600 million yuan at the domestic box office and was released during this year's Spring Festival.
Considering the reputation of the movie when it was released, the box office was actually low.
There is no way, "Hello, Li Huanying" and "Detective Chinatown 3" were very popular during the Spring Festival, and the two movies occupied the vast majority of the screenings.
The rest of the time is taken up by two fantasy films, "Assassination of Novelist" and "The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity", so the screening time for "Raging Fire" is really limited.
Even under such unfavorable conditions, "The Crowd" still managed to get a box office of 600 million yuan thanks to its good reputation. This shows that this movie is indeed liked by many audiences.
Now the movie's release date has been moved to May. In the current film market, although it is far less popular than the Spring Festival period, "The Crowd" still accounts for the absolute majority of the screenings.
Several movies released during the May Day holiday have already passed their peak period, and the only new movie released at the same time is a Hong Kong romance movie [Touched Her 77 Times].
Just by looking at the title you can tell that it is a bad movie.
Therefore, under such circumstances, "The Crowd" can get more than 50% of the national screening schedule.
Coupled with Gu Wei's starring role, its box office appeal is far greater than Hua Zai's.
So it is certain that this version of "The Crowd" will surpass the original at the box office, but Gu Wei has no exact number in his mind, whether it will be 1 billion, 1.5 billion, 2 billion or more.
(End of this chapter)
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