Chapter 827: Unmatched energy
In today's domestic entertainment movie market, the Spring Festival period is undoubtedly the most competitive at the box office and is the top period of the year.
Then there are the Lunar New Year stalls, summer stalls and National Day stalls.
The Lunar New Year stall was once the boss, but now it has been replaced by the Spring Festival stall, but the skinny camel is bigger than the horse.
The summer season benefited from the students' vacation, and there have been top hits such as "Wolf Warrior 2" and "Tang Detective 2" that have sold billions.
The National Day schedule is due to the popularity of theme-themed movies in recent years. The popularity of movies such as "My Motherland and Me" and "My Hometown and Me" has made the National Day schedule popular.
Because the May Day holiday period is slightly shorter, the box office and popularity are far less than those of the previous four periods, but it is still better than Valentine's Day, Qingming Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and other holidays.
This year's May Day competition is relatively fierce, with seven new domestic films chosen 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 championship with a box office of 660 million.
Following closely behind was the spy movie "Above the Cliff" directed by Zhang Yimou, which ranked second with a box office of 570 million.
Judging from the box office alone, "Your Wedding" is undoubtedly the biggest winner. The film achieved a high box office of 140 million on the first day of release. In just three days, the cumulative box office exceeded 424 million. This is for a small-cost domestically produced film. For a romance film, it is obviously an unimaginable hit.
It's just that although "Your Wedding" did well at the box office, its reputation was very average.
The Douban score is only 5.2, and the comments are full of criticism.
But just such a movie has won the title of May Day champion. It can only be said that the marketing of the film crew is indeed in place.
Rookie actor Zhang Ruonan has also become so popular thanks to the movie, and is regarded by many fans as the new "nation's first love", quite a bit like Michelle Chen when it was a hit movie [in those years].
"Above the Cliff" has assembled many powerful actors such as Zhang Yi, Yu Hewei, Qin Hailu, etc., coupled with the fame of director Zhang Yimou, the movie has gained countless attention before it was released.
After the movie was released, it did not disappoint. The actors' excellent acting skills and the ups and downs of the entire movie's storyline won unanimous praise from the audience.
As word of mouth continues to grow, "Above the Cliff" has surpassed "Your Wedding" in 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".
Except for the battle between the above two movies for the top spot, the other works are basically evenly matched.
The cumulative box office of "Sweep the Gangster: The Final Battle" is 124 million, the cumulative box office of "Chasing the Tiger and the Dragon" is 165 million, and the box office of "Secret Visitor" is 192 million. These three movies form the "second echelon" of the May 1st Film Festival.
The two movies at the bottom of the queue are "Sunshine Robbers" starring Ma Li and Song Jia, and "The Chinese Story" starring Ren Suxi and Li Baotian.
"Sunshine Robbers" got 40 million at the box office on May 1st, and "Xun Han Ji" only had a pitiful 2.32 million.
But both movies are very different from each other.
The rating of "Eye Robbers" is only 4.2, which is not as good as "Your Wedding". It is a complete bad movie.
Although "The Story of Han" has the lowest box office, its rating is second only to "On the Cliff", ranking second among several movies with a rating of 6.9.
[Sunshine Robbers] was rejected because the movie was really bad. Without Shen Teng, Ma Li could not handle the box office alone.
[Xunhan Strategy] is because the publicity and development failed to keep up. The original investment cost of the film was very low, and the money invested in publicity and development was even less. In addition, there were no famous traffic stars, and the wine was not fragrant. Afraid of the deep alley, the final box office was naturally not ideal.
“Why isn’t your movie [The Crowd] scheduled for May Day?”
[Changjin Lake] The crew, Wu Jing and Gu Wei were chatting about the recently released movies during lunch break.
After taking a leave of absence for a while, Gu Wei returned to the crew to continue filming after finishing all the work.
[Changjin Lake] - To be precise, the filming of [Shuimen Bridge] has reached the final stage and will be completed in about another month.
"At first I planned to release it on May Day, but later I communicated with the theaters, and they hoped to put "The Crowd" in mid-May, hoping to use this movie to fill the market gap after the May Day period.< br>
The theaters have guaranteed the film schedule, so I think it’s not that important whether it’s released on May Day.” Gu Wei held the bowl, picked out a piece of sweet and sour short ribs, and said while eating.
Wu Jingcheng nodded and suddenly thought of something.
"I remember [Fast and Furious 9] was also released this month, right?"
"Yes, in the next week of [crowded]."
"Aren't you afraid that competing with [Fast 9] will affect the box office of the movie?"
Wu Jing's worries are not unreasonable. You must know that the "Fast and Furious" series has many fans in China.
[Super 7] and [Super 8] each received more than 2 billion in box office in the Chinese market that year, so this year's [Super 9] is also very much anticipated by the audience.
Gu Wei smiled: "What are you afraid of? [The Crowd] will be released for a week first, which will give you a first-mover advantage, and it is best if the market is heated up. One tree cannot make a forest, and competition will be good for the box office."
< br>
"That's right. With your box office appeal, you really don't have to worry about [Fast and Furious 9], unless this movie can explode like [Avengers 4]."
Gu Wei looked at Wu Jing with a smile, but secretly shook his head in his heart.
How can [Fast 9] be compared to [Avengers 4]? It is far inferior to the previous two films.
[Fast and Furious], as a traditional Hollywood popcorn movie, has actually been going downhill since the seventh film. By the time of the ninth film, the director has let himself go. From the story and plot point of view, it is completely a Hollywood "magic drama", similar to Domestic "hand-tearing devils".
The protagonist's halo is almost invincible, and all enemies are like paper in front of them. People who block them will kill, and Buddhas who block them will kill Buddhas.
The only further filming in this series will involve racing in space and the family fighting aliens.
"I checked today's data online. The box office of "Above the Cliff" will exceed 1 billion. Director Zhang's sword is still young!
The reviews online are quite good. You should watch this movie if 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. He wanted me to play the role of Zhu Yawen, playing the second role with Liu Haocun"
Wu Jing asked curiously: "Why didn't you agree? That's Zhang Yimou!"
Gu Wei shrugged: "No schedule.
I haven’t been idle since last year, so I didn’t have time to take pictures of [Above the Cliff].”
"That's such a pity. I have 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 movies, box office does not determine everything.
Even though Zhang Yimou has not yet made a movie with a box office of billions, it does not affect his status as China's number one director. The title of "National Master" was just a joke back then, but now it has been recognized by the people of the country and the government.
Gu Wei also expressed some emotion: "I met Director Zhang when we were filming [The Great Wall], and sometimes I have to admire him when I think about it.
He is already 70 this year, and they say that life is rare in seventy years, but he looks as energetic as a young man in his twenties or thirties.
In the past few years, he has directed one or two movies almost every year. In addition to the already released "One Second" and "On the Cliff", I know that he is also preparing two movies "Sniper" and "Solid as a Rock" this year.
The most exaggerated thing is that he can also take on some official tasks and serve as the chief director for some major events. You said this kind of work efficiency and energy are not like a 70-year-old man”
The chief director of the large-scale live performance held in Tiananmen in 2019 was Zhang Yimou.
After this event was completed, Director Zhang filmed [One Second] and also served as the supervising producer for [My Hometown and Me].
At present, in addition to preparing the two movies mentioned by Gu Wei, he has also taken on another official task and became the chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2022 Winter Olympics.
You must know that being a director requires far more time and energy than an actor. Zhang Yimou's abundant energy and positive work attitude can definitely put most young directors in the circle to shame.
"You said that when I meet Director Zhang some time, I have to ask him what secrets he has for maintaining his health. If I learn it, I can still play for another 20 years."
Hearing what Wu Jing said, Gu Wei also laughed: "You don't need to ask Director Zhang. If you have a chance, ask Brother Cheng Long. I remember he was born in 1954 and should be exactly 20 years older than you. He is still a treasure trove. < br>
I heard that he is preparing a movie called "The Spirit of Dragon and Horse", which tells the story of the dragon and tiger warriors in Hong Kong movies.
I feel like Brother Cheng Long can still film for many more years”
May 13th.
Gu Wei, who had been back filming for two weeks, asked for leave again. "The Crowd" was about to be released. He came out to attend the premiere of the film, and then followed the crew for a two-day road show.
The previous "Happy Camp" and "Run" that Reba participated in have been aired, and the intensive publicity in the recent period has also spread the fame of "The Crowd" a lot.
"May I ask Mr. Gu Wei, what made you take on the role of [The Crowd]?"
Reporters present at the premiere interviewed the creators on stage.
"Actually, it was Director Rao who approached me at the beginning. He said he wanted to make such a movie, which was very interesting. He said that the role of "Chen Xiaomeng" in it was particularly suitable for me.
Later I read the script and the story was indeed interesting, but my character was too decadent.
Just tell him if it doesn’t match my personal image.”
Everyone laughed when he said this.
"Then Director Rao said that this way there is a sense of contrast, and that playing this kind of role can better highlight my acting skills.
I was fooled by him into accepting this drama.”
"What considerations did Director Rao take in selecting the actors?" the reporter asked Rao Xiaozhi again.
"Of course it's the suitability for the role. I think the leading actors are the most suitable actors to play the roles in the movie.
It turns out that there is nothing wrong with my idea”
"We all know that this is the second time for you, Mr. Zhang Songwen, to work with Mr. Gu Wei. Do you feel any different from when you filmed "Zhou Chu Eliminates 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 big bad guy and the leader of a cult, which was the opposite of Gu Wei's character.
This time we are a team"
Gu Wei smiled and said: "But you are still a killer this time."
"But I, a killer, have never killed anyone but saved many people!"
"Haha, yes, he looks like a killer but is actually an actor"
As a comedy movie, "The Crowd" is qualified.
After the interview and interaction, the movie was shown. From the beginning to the end, bursts of laughter could be heard in the venue from time to time.
Seeing this situation, Yao Xiaozhi felt relieved.
"My crew hasn't finished filming yet, so I can only follow the team for two days of road shows, and 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 teams on road shows, there won't be any problem."
He couldn't help but ask after hesitating for a moment.
"The movie market has been a bit sluggish recently after the May Day holiday. Do you think our movie has hope of achieving a high box office?"
Gu Wei turned to look at him: "What are your expectations?"
"If you just look at the quality of the movie, I think the box office is about the same between 5 and 1 billion, but if you have the boss to join, it will cost more than 2 billion."
Gu Wei laughed after hearing what he said, and reached out to pat Yao Xiaozhi on the shoulder: "Who did you learn to flatter me from?"
"There's no such thing as flattery, I'm telling the truth!"
"Okay, I'll take it as what you said is true"
Gu Wei thought for a while: "Actually, if you ask me to predict, I don't have an accurate number in my mind.
But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the number you mentioned at the beginning, but I can’t say what height it will reach in the end.”
What Gu Wei said was true.
The total domestic box office of the original version of "The Crowd" is more than 600 million, and it was released during the Spring Festival this year.
Judging from the reputation of the movie when it was released, the box office was actually low.
There is no way around it. During the Spring Festival, [Hello Li Huanying] and [Tang Detective 3] are very popular, and these two movies account for the vast majority of the film schedule.
The rest is taken up by two fantasy movies, "Assassination of Novelists" and "Order of the Samurai Gods." The film schedule for "The Crowd" is really limited.
Under such unfavorable conditions, "The Crowd" still struggled to get 600 million at the box office relying on good reputation. This shows that this movie is indeed loved by many viewers.
Now the movie schedule has been moved to May. In terms of the current movie market, although it is far from as hot as the Spring Festival movie, the [huge crowd] definitely accounts for the majority of the movie schedule.
Several movies in the May Day period have already passed their release period, and the only new movie released at the same time is a Hong Kong romance movie "Touched Her 77 Times".
You can tell from the name that it's a bad movie.
So [Big Crowd] can almost get more than 50% of the national films under this situation.
Coupled with the starring role of Gu Wei, its box office appeal is far better than that of Hua Zai.
Therefore, it is certain that the box office of this version of "Big Crowd" exceeds that of the original version. However, Gu Wei does not have an accurate figure in his mind as to how much it will be: 1 billion, 1.5 billion, 2 billion or more.
(End of chapter)