Chapter 492: The person who has the greatest influence on Chinese films.
Entering July, the North American summer season is still very busy.
"Spider-Man 2" only lasted two weeks, and was quickly co-directed by Alfonso Cuaron and Tsui Hark, and co-starred by Cheng Long, Shu Chang, Dwayne Johnson, Bingbing Li, Meng Dawu, and Chris Tucker replaced by "Spellbound 2".
This is the second part of the series. Cheng Long and Xiaoyu’s father will pursue the ancient legend of Shambhala and continue to explore the secret of the twelve talismans.
At the same time, there will also be some magical objects with incredible power.
During this process, there was always a group of people robbing Cheng Long of spells, as well as villains with these magical objects.
In previous movie trailers, the film showed unparalleled imagination.
The most attractive scene in the trailer is the scene where Cheng Long follows the cargo from the plane and falls into the desert, and the scene where everyone finds the legendary Shambhala.
When the main creators were promoting it, the art director from Hong Kong Island, China, said that many of the artistic scene designs in the movie came from director Gilbert Jr.
Because he was busy with preparations for "Batman Begins," Gilbert Jr. did not attend the film's premiere.
However, he still promoted the movie on social platforms and said that action-adventure lovers should not miss this movie.
"Mystery of the Spell 2" has a certain audience base due to the accumulation of the previous work, and Cheng Long is currently popular.
As long as the quality of the sequel is maintained, it won't be a big problem to make money back through the box office or even make a profit.
In fact, before "Spell 2", "New Police Story", a Hong Kong police film starring Cheng Long himself, was released in North America and grossed US$43.52 million at the box office.
This is entirely Cheng Long's personal appeal that allows a Hong Kong film to achieve such a high box office in North America.
From a side perspective, this is also one of the butterfly effects brought about by little Gilbert.
It is said that Hong Kong films are in decline, but at least Cheng Long's Hong Kong films still have a certain market. The biggest box office for "New Police Story" is actually North America, and Hollywood is one of the culprits that destroyed Hong Kong movies.
I have to say, this sounds a bit ironic, but it is true.
The media on Hong Kong Island are still touting that Cheng Long has become the representative and leader of Hong Kong films, even though he is one.
Before this, "Infernal Affairs" was remade by Martin Scorsese, and later "New Police Story" was a hit in North America. Who said that Hong Kong movies were on the decline?
But knowledgeable people know that this is just an appearance.
Gilbert Jr. also discussed this issue with Cheng Long. Gilbert Jr. said: "This is because you are very popular in North America. Once your popularity declines, you will no longer have the same appeal as you do now and you will not be able to drive movies.
What seems like a good situation now will disappear in an instant. "
Cheng Long asked: "Is there any way to change this situation?"
"There is no way. As long as you still regard yourself as a small market and small circle, you will never be able to change." Little Gilbert said.
Cheng Long said that he understood. If a small circle cannot be maintained, then he should integrate into a larger circle.
"However, we are already doing this. In recent years, many directors, practitioners, and actors have moved north to develop their careers." Cheng Long said.
"Is that development of yours? First of all, your attitude is not correct." Little Gilbert was speechless. He said that he was too lazy to care about this: "Forget it, there must be a road before the car reaches the mountain."
Cheng Long wanted to ask again, but little Gilbert didn't say anything, and he was too embarrassed to ask any more questions.
During the promotion period, Cheng Long kept thinking about the conversation between him and Gilbert Jr. He felt that Gilbert Jr. had a solution, but he just didn't want to say more.
It's normal. For a Hollywood director, it would be inappropriate for him to meddle in other people's affairs.
No different than in his previous life, Cheng Long is now prosperous in Hollywood and understands the Hollywood film industry better.
He knows that Hong Kong films have long lost their competitiveness. Whether it is "New Police Story" or the "Infernal Affairs" series, they are just insignificant small victories in a big defeat.
Only by forming a large circle and developing the mainland market can we survive.
But even though Cheng Long is very powerful and has a high status, not everyone in Hong Kong listens to his words.
Although it was difficult, Cheng Long still wanted to give it a try, so he sent a letter to the Hong Kong Film Awards Organizing Committee, suggesting that the selection restrictions be relaxed to allow more mainland films to participate.
Cheng Long mentioned in the letter: "Don't let the Academy Awards be limited to Hong Kong Island. We want to be the most authoritative and fair award in the Chinese film world, so that more Chinese films can participate in this event. "
I have to say that this suggestion is good, but difficult to implement.
As soon as Cheng Long's letter was sent out, it immediately aroused heated discussion among the Hong Kong media. The media from next door and the north also participated.
There were those who supported it, but there were more voices of opposition, so the matter was dropped.
Of course, it is not without gains. At least the Academy Awards organizing committee has relaxed some conditions to allow more mainland filmmakers to participate.
According to Cheng Long, the Academy Awards organizing committee is just trying to make peace with others, and no one can be offended. But can Hong Kong movies, which are gradually declining, be saved without committing crimes? It's simply impossible. Some people say that "Mystery of the Talisman 2" can also be considered a Chinese-language movie. After all, it tells a story about the twelve zodiac animals.
But this is not the case. In essence, "Mystery of the Spell 2" is still a Hollywood formula. You can replace this set with Greek mythology or Mayan legends, it’s universal.
The film did well at the box office during its first weekend of release, with a box office of US$73.612 million in North America, successfully knocking "Spider-Man 2" out of the top spot next week.
Overseas regions simultaneously earned US$123.575 million, and together with the North American box office, it also successfully became the global box office champion this week.
It is worth mentioning that when this film was released in the Hong Kong market, several local newspapers were very dissatisfied with the casting, believing that mainlanders were overrepresented.
Because of this issue, a Hong Kong reporter interviewed Cheng Long who was promoting the movie, but Cheng Long stopped him in one sentence.
"The casting for the film was finalized by Director Gilbert Jr., and the candidates he picked were all suitable," Cheng Long said.
The reporter was speechless. He couldn't say that a big Hollywood director had a bad eye for selecting people, right?
Not to mention, some media really said this. A local newspaper in Hong Kong strongly criticized Xiaoyu's choice when the first "Mystery of the Spell" was released.
The newspaper also said that there were many suitable people in Hong Kong Island, and then blamed Cheng Long, saying that he did not train new people from Hong Kong Island, and there were only a few old faces coming and going.
Cheng Long was quite speechless after reading the report. He had no say in this project. Can he decide who should be recommended for the starring role?
It’s a good thing that little Gilbert has not read this report, otherwise he would tell this media that it is too early to say these things. In more than ten years, it will be just a few old faces.
In addition to media factors, the film still took in a box office of HK$8.758 million in its first week on Hong Kong Island, successfully becoming the box office champion of that week.
Hong Kong movie fans are full of praise for this action fantasy masterpiece. They are also very satisfied with Cheng Long's performance and also like the comfortable Xiaoyu.
Continuing to go north, Gilbert Jr.'s "Warrior" has already taken 112 million RMB at the box office in the mainland market, making it one of the few films with a box office of over 100 million yuan this year.
And when "The Mystery of Spells 2" came to the mainland, it took in a box office of 33.5 million RMB in its first week of release, which is quite good.
The previous film "The Mystery of the Spell" made a box office of 93.25 million RMB in the Mainland, which is a pretty good result. Now it is not a big problem for the sequel movie to have a box office of over 100 million, and it has once again consolidated the status of Shu Chang and Bing Bingli.
The most important thing is that the film performs well in the global market and is a truly internationally famous work.
Guo Fan, who is currently filming his new movie, also invited the main creators to go to the cinema to watch the movie because he studied on this crew.
At the end of the movie, Guo Fan was surprised to find out his name and felt very excited.
It’s not simple. Apart from actors, this is one of the few Chinese behind-the-scenes staff to be included in the credits at the end of a Hollywood movie.
Although there were a large number of Chinese staff in "Lord of the Rings" before, "Lord of the Rings" did not include them at all.
Guo Fan can understand it. After all, a movie with a purely Western fantasy style will look nondescript if there are a large number of Chinese people in the production list.
"The Matrix" has Yuen Woo-Ping's action director team, and most of the crew of "The Mystery of the Spell" are from Hong Kong Island. There is always a sense of pride in a movie when the subtitles play.
How to describe it? It's just that I'm a part of this great movie, I have credit for it, and it feels great.
After returning, everyone discussed this Hollywood movie with Chinese origins lively, and asked Guo Fan about his experience studying on the set.
Guo Fan said: "This is a very special experience, and you all know that. But I have gained a lot. I have benefited a lot from studying in the center of the world's film industry for several months."
Starring Huang Bo asked: "Director Guo, will you make science fiction films in the future?"
When most people face this problem, they will only say some ambiguous words, such as wait and see, or talk about it when there is a chance.
However, Guo Fan is very determined: "Of course, I have been dreaming of making science fiction movies since I watched "Iron Fist" in junior high school."
No one laughed at Guo Fan for overestimating his abilities and daydreaming.
After working together for several months, everyone knows Guo Fan well and knows that he is not the kind of person who talks big and brags.
So everyone expressed their belief, but they didn't think Guo Fan could really succeed. Some people even think that when Guo Fan hits a wall, he will know that this road is not going to be easy.
Huang Bo was different. He smiled and said, "Okay, if you have the chance, remember to leave a role for me."
"Easy to say, easy to say..."
If you want to select a person who has had the greatest influence on the Chinese film industry since the 1990s, there is no doubt that it is little Gilbert, even the national teacher Zhang is not worthy.
After all, the incident of fake students last year caused a huge uproar and almost caused the so-called circle to collapse.
The commercialization and development process of Chinese films is also inseparable from Little Gilbert. Without the influence of little Gilbert, Guo Fan might have been wasted for more than ten years.
But now, Guo Fan can confidently embark on an unknown road.
No one can tell how Chinese-language films will change in the future.
(End of chapter)