In the blink of an eye, the National Day holiday has officially arrived.
A total of 7 new movies were released during this year's National Day holiday.
They are [The Long Journey Home], [Ordinary Heroes], [Iron Will], [Search and Rescue], and three animated films [Big Head Son and Little Head Dad 5: My Alien Friend], [I Am a Tyrannosaurus Rex], and [Cinderella 2].
Among them, "The Journey Home" directed by Rao Xiaozhi and co-starred by Zhang Yi, Zeng Shunxi and Zhang Tianai is an absolute hit.
On the first day of its release, it earned 180 million yuan at the box office with 35.6% of the national screening schedule, firmly occupying the first place in the box office rankings.
"Ordinary Heroes", another main theme blockbuster, had a bad start, with a box office of only 23.15 million on the first day of its release. It accounted for 20% of the screenings, but only a pitiful 8.9% of the box office.
Other films from the same period weren't much better.
[Iron Will], starring Liu Ye, Han Xue and Lin Yongjian, tells the story of Anshan Iron and Steel Plant overcoming numerous obstacles in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, successfully repairing the abandoned blast furnace, and producing the first molten iron in New China in the shortest time.
It's one of those old-fashioned mainstream movies from a dozen or twenty years ago.
The single-day box office on the first day of its release was less than 10 million.
[Search and Rescue] is a disaster rescue film starring Zhen Zidan, and its box office on the first day was only 4.98 million.
Overall, this year's National Day box office is far inferior to last year's.
Even "The Journey Home", which took the highest box office, was far from a big hit. Apart from it, the box office of other movies was pitifully small, and the overall market was cold.
Beijing, Bona Film Group.
In the president's office, Yu Dong looked at the box office data of recent days with a frown.
“Why is the box office so low?
It's a mainstream theme, starring Li Bingbing, Feng Shaofeng, and Huang Xiaoming, and the film's content and rhythm are also fine."
During the seven days of National Day, "Ordinary Heroes" maintained a box office record of 20 to 30 million yuan a day.
The reputation is not bad but not outstanding either.
Anyone can see that this movie is doomed to fail at the box office.
Yu Dong was very sad. Although "Ordinary Heroes" did not have as exaggerated an investment of over 1 billion yuan as "The Battle at Lake Changjin", it still cost 200 million yuan for production and promotion.
According to the current box office trend of the movie, it remains a question whether the final box office can exceed 200 million.
As the main producer, Bona will lose at least 100 million yuan on "Ordinary Heroes".
“Is it true, as the media and film critics say, that the golden age of mainstream films has passed?
But the box office of "A Thousand Miles Home" is very good."
Thinking of "A Thousand Miles Home", he looked at the producers of this movie again.
"[Guo Fan Films], [Wei Ming Tian Xia], [Freedom Cool Whale].
Guo Fan, Gu Wei, Lu Yang, and yes, Wu Jing.
This small circle of people has become a very important force in the film industry."
As I was sighing, there was a knock on the door.
"Mr. Yu, Director Lin Chaoxian is here." The assistant reported to the director.
"Please come in!"
After a while, Lin Chaoxian, wearing casual clothes and looking tired, came to the office.
"Director Lin, thank you for your hard work during this filming period~"
Yu Dong greeted warmly.
Lin Chaoxian has been working with Bona for many years, and his relationship with Yu Dong is like that between Feng Xiaogang and Huayi's Mr. Wang and Mr. Wang.
"It's just filming, it's not hard at all." Lin Chaoxian took the tea brewed by Yu Dong, blew on it and took a small sip.
He just returned to Beijing last month after wrapping up filming for the movie "Flash Point" he directed.
This film is an action-thriller co-produced by Bona and Emperor Entertainment Group, written and directed by Lin Chaoxian himself.
The actors chosen are all Hong Kong artists such as Zhang Jiahui, Chen Weiting, Liang Luoshi, and Jiang Haowen. The filming location is also in Hong Kong Island. It is a authentic Hong Kong film.
In fact, Yu Dong is not optimistic about this movie.
It’s a different era now, Hong Kong films have long been in decline.
During the summer season, Louis Koo's "The Battle of Tomorrow," which was known as China's first science fiction mecha masterpiece, only made 500 million yuan at the box office and lost everything. It was crushed by Gu Wei's "John Wick 4" and Shen Teng's "The Lone Moon."
Even though Lin Chaoxian is now one of the top directors in the domestic entertainment industry, he became famous by making mainstream blockbusters. The box office and popularity of the Hong Kong films he made back then were far less than those of "Operation Mekong" and "Operation Red Sea", not to mention "Changjin Lake".
This "Breaking Point" is the movie that Lin Chaoxian wanted to make himself, and Yu Dong couldn't stop him.
Not only can it not be stopped, but it also requires real financial support.
But Yu Dong doesn't care. In his opinion, directors are artists, and it is normal for them to have their own pursuits. Isn't that the case with Zhang Yimou and Chen Kai? They all have their own ideas about what kind of movies they want to make.
In comparison, Lin Chaoxian has been very obedient.
After a few pleasantries, the two talked about several recently released movies.
".The company's film "Ordinary Heroes" was a box office failure.
In my opinion, this movie is not much different from the previous films "The Captain", "The Bravest" and "Chinese Doctor", but the box office is so different.
Some voices online are saying that the golden age of mainstream films is over."
Lin Chaoxian thought for a moment and said, "I watched Rao Xiaozhi's film 'The Journey Home' and the company's film 'Ordinary Heroes'.
Rather than saying that mainstream melody movies have passed their golden age, it is better to say that the audience's viewing standards are rising.
In recent years, more and more main-theme movies have been filmed and released. Ordinary main-theme movies can no longer win by relying on the subject matter; they must be well-made.
[Ordinary Heroes] is rather bland in plot and character portrayal, lacking depth, and some scenes are overly sentimental and deliberate.
Compared with Rao Xiaozhi, Guo Fan and others, Chen Guohui's directing skills are still a little worse.
As a main-theme film, it is difficult for "Ordinary Heroes" to achieve good results when its quality is inferior to others."
Yu Dong nodded in agreement.
What Lin Chaoxian said was basically the same as what he thought.
He now regrets asking Chen Guohui to direct this movie.
The reputation of the movie "The Bravest" a few years ago was just average, but because the box office was good, I decided to continue working with him on this movie "Ordinary Heroes".
Looking at it now, there are really not many Hong Kong and Taiwan directors who are truly talented enough to make good movies.
After mentally putting all the blame for the film's box office failure on director Chen Guohui and mentally listing him as someone he would no longer collaborate with, Yu Dong thought of another project he had always cared about.
"Director Lin, how's the script for the second part of Operation Red Sea coming along?"
“The general story is almost complete, but it still needs to be polished and modified.
Once the post-production of [Breaking Point] is complete, I will focus on perfecting the script."
"What kind of story is this? Evacuation? Rescue? Or something else?" Yu Dong asked curiously.
Lin Chaoxian smiled and said, "[Operation Red Sea] was a military operation that took place on land, and this time I plan to shoot a film that takes place in the sea.
I call it Operation Killer Whale or Operation Dragon!"
Hainan, the crew of "Extreme Rescue".
"Cut! Very good!" After a shot was taken, Wen Muye's voice came from the loudspeaker.
Gu Wei, who was still posing in the venue, relaxed, and other actors who were knocked to the ground stood up one after another.
After walking behind the camera, Gu Wei watched the action scene again and chatted with Wen Muye and Yuan Heping. The three of them all thought the effect was good, and this action scene, which was relatively important in the movie, was passed.
The staff packed up and moved on, and Gu Wei walked to the rest area nearby.
"Boss, that fight scene just now was so cool!"
Yang Chaoyue, who had been watching the show at the side of the venue, gave a thumbs up to flatter the emperor.
"Xiaotian, do you think he's handsome?" After saying that, she also cue Tian Xiwei.
“Super handsome!
Clean and neat, every punch hits the flesh, it's so cool to watch!" Oda is also very skilled and expressed his opinion of the fight scene just now.
Gu Wei took the water cup from his assistant and took a sip.
"Okay, if you two have anything to ask me, just tell me directly."
The two girls looked at each other, and Yang Chaoyue chuckled, "Sure enough, nothing can be hidden from your discerning eyes, boss.
Xiaotian and I are planning to go to the movies after work tonight and take a stroll around the area. Boss, could you please join us?"
After she finished speaking, Tian Xiwei looked at Gu Wei expectantly.
"There's no night show today, so we have plenty of time.
No problem, what movie do you want to see?"
“Watch the film [A Thousand Miles Home] produced by the company.
This movie was a big hit recently, and Zeng Shunxi was so proud of it that he showed off to me on WeChat!
It's obvious that Mr. Zhang Yi is the lead actor."
Yang Chaoyue said this with a bit of dissatisfaction.
She has a good relationship with Zeng Shunxi, and the two worked together on the drama "Who is the Hero" which was broadcast in the first half of the year.
Gu Wei smiled and said, “He did perform well in the movie.
[A Thousand Miles Home] was a huge hit, and he can be considered to have his own masterpiece in the film industry, which is something to be happy about.
Chao Yue, don’t be envious. When our movie is released, the popularity it will bring you will far exceed that of “A Thousand Miles Home”.”
After saying that, Gu Wei thought for a moment.
"How about this? I'll have someone book a theater and a restaurant. After the show, we'll go see a movie first, and then I'll take you two out for a seafood dinner. How about that?"
"marvelous!"
"Long live the boss!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Chaoyue and Tian Xiwei cheered.
After the show in the evening, Gu Wei took the two girls to a private cinema to watch "A Thousand Miles Home", and then took them to a highly praised local seafood restaurant.
"The movie is really good, especially the acting of Mr. Zhang Yi is really great!"
Yang Chaoyue was eating king crab legs while talking about the movie they had just watched.
"Well, it's very good. Director Rao Xiaozhi is very good. I like his movie "The Unknown"!" Tian Xiwei's eating manners were not very elegant.
She had a big appetite to begin with, and the dishes Gu Wei ordered were all her favorites, so she started to devour them as soon as the dishes came.
She enjoyed seafood such as bluefin tuna bone marrow, Boston lobster, Australian golden abalone, Norwegian salmon, etc.
"Xiaotian, I've always believed that even if you don't become a celebrity, you can still become famous by becoming a food blogger!"
Yang Chaoyue finally finished eating a few huge king crab legs and was already feeling a little full. Looking at Tian Xiwei next to him who was eating a lot and delicious food, he said with some envy.
"I don't understand, how can you, a tiny person, eat so much and not get fat?"
"I usually exercise a lot, and I don't eat so much every day~"
Tian Xiwei was eating lobster meat in her mouth, and she raised one arm and bent it, with the muscle texture on it clearly visible.
Gu Wei listened to the two girls' conversation and said with a smile, "Xiaotian is a gifted person, and she exercises every day. She eats more naturally because of her activity level.
It’s much lazier to surpass you compared to Oda.”
After he finished speaking, Tian Xiwei smiled widely, but Yang Chaoyue was not happy: "How am I lazy? When I first worked as your assistant, I didn't know how hard I worked. Later, when I joined the girl group, practicing singing and dancing every day was also super hard!"
"Yeah?
I heard that when you were in the girl group, you were the one who was least willing to practice dancing."
"That's because I don't have the talent. I always fail in practice, so naturally I don't want to practice.
It's not because of laziness.
I'm very active when I'm working!" Yang Chaoyue defended.
Gu Wei nodded: "I believe this!"
Tian Xiwei picked up a piece of salmon and said, "I saw online that although the box office of "A Thousand Miles Home" was good, the film market during this year's National Day holiday was much colder than in previous years.
I just took a quick look at the cinema, and there weren’t many people there.”
Gu Wei thought for a moment and said, "This year's National Day box office is indeed a bit quieter than previous years, mainly because there are no blockbuster movies.
The current box office of "A Thousand Miles Home" cannot be considered a hit, and it is far behind "The Battle at Lake Changjin" which was released during the National Day holiday last year.
In addition, there are many main-theme movies. "The Journey Home" about the evacuation of overseas Chinese, "Ordinary Heroes" about rescuing a little boy in the border area, and "Iron Will" recording the history of China's steelmaking are all considered typical main-theme blockbusters in the eyes of the audience. There is not much difference in essence, so most of the audience will only choose one to watch.
Generally speaking, it is best for movies in the same period to be supported by a combination of feature films, comedies and animations. This will expand the audience of the movies, and after the word-of-mouth of excellent movies spreads, the attendance rate and total number of movie viewings will also increase.
On the contrary, if the movies released at the same time are highly homogenized, the audience will only choose one to watch from a bunch of similar movies.
This is also the fundamental reason why this year's National Day box office, despite the fact that "Ordinary Heroes" had the support of "The Bravest" and "The Captain" and its overall quality was not inferior to other films released during the same period, only earned 100 million yuan during the entire holiday period.
After Gu Wei finished speaking, the two little girls who were still eating showed expressions of sudden enlightenment. (End of this chapter)
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