Chapter 438 2008
Maybe it’s because the box office beat “The Legend” in the first week, maybe it’s because there are Xu Kun and Huang Xiaoming in between, or maybe it’s because Deng Chao’s fame and status are higher than in the original time and space.
So the famous scene where Feng Xiaogang grabbed the microphone from Deng Chao, said, "Since no one is interested in the movie, let's not waste time here," and then turned around and left, did not happen.
But his mottled old face was still as dark as a pot. As soon as the interview ended, he walked away without even waiting for the award ceremony to be officially held.
Afterwards, Feng Xiaogang completely broke up with Deng Chao and even kicked Deng Chao out of the road show team.
Because this guy was totally self-inflicted, Xu Kun was naturally too lazy to make amends for him. Anyway, he still had Wang Zhonglei as his backer, so there was no need to worry about him falling into ruin.
Since then, Xu Kun has been busy promoting the movie, traveling to two or three cities a day on average, basically catching up on sleep on trains, buses or planes. He is so busy that he does not distinguish between black and white day and night.
Thanks to Qin Lan by his side, he was not lonely during the journey - the two of them also unlocked the achievement of the Air China 737 bathroom scene.
Before I knew it, 2008 came quietly.
"The Legend", which was originally regarded as a strong rival of "Assembly", began to decline rapidly at the box office after entering its third week. Although its reputation was not bad, it could not hide its decline.
On January 5, 2008, the total box office of "Assembly Number" officially surpassed that of "Vote", triggering quite a public opinion in the Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Because this is the first time since the opening of the mainland film market that a commercial blockbuster starring purely mainland actors has defeated the commercial blockbusters from Hong Kong and Taiwan with a gathering of superstars.
The Invincible Battleship composed of Chen Kexin + Jet Li + Andy Lau + Jin Chengwu lost to the mainland combination of Feng Xiaogang + Xu Kun + Deng Chao + Huang Xiaoming. The production cost of 300 million was lost to 80 million.
This may not be surprising in the eyes of later generations, but at the time it was no less than a shock bomb dropped in the entertainment circles on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and three places.
It turns out that we in the mainland can do it too!
As time goes by, the gap between the two movies becomes wider and wider, and more people realize this.
It can be done, and it can really be done without relying on people from Hong Kong and Taiwan!
On the other hand, Hong Kong and Taiwan felt as if they were facing a formidable enemy, as if they were mourning for a heir, and then suddenly many rumors appeared to smear "Assembly". As the leading actor, Xu Kun, who has never been very friendly to Hong Kong and Taiwan, Countless dirty water was thrown at them.
Some said that he relied on crooked ways to win; some said that his true identity was the son of a high-ranking official, so he could mobilize countless resources; some revealed his statement that "there are no good people in Hong Kong Island" and severely criticized him.
But most of all, it starts from the relationship between men and women.
Since mid-January 2008, various true and false scandals about Xu Kun have appeared in major media in Hong Kong like water flooding the golden mountain.
Some big newspapers are quite reserved, while many entertainment tabloids simply rely on editing for the first picture.
For example, post a photo of a young trainee wearing a red scarf, walking into the Huayi office building, and write below it: [It is said that Xu Kun often runs into the practice room to personally practice for those who are still in elementary school. Students 'correct their posture'.
Due to his status as a big director and big star, the young trainees who were being coached knew clearly that they were being taken advantage of, but they could only grit their teeth and endure it.
However, those parents in the mainland who hoped that their daughters would become successful, instead of protesting and calling the police after hearing the news, they let it go and even secretly encouraged it.
Later, some trainees even stayed out at night. As for what happened...
Anyway, that night, the lights in Xu Kun's office stayed on all night. 】
It was also claimed that every time Xu Kun was filming a film or television drama, he would deliberately place the actress in an adjacent room, go to a random room in the dark at night, and forcefully have sex with the actress.
He didn't even know who the actress he insulted was until the next day.
Afterwards, a few more scenes and lines were introduced, and other characters were introduced to coax the actresses into settling the matter.
There are also rumors that Xu Kun never likes wearing condoms, so every time shortly after the crew disbanded, an actress would silently go to have an abortion.
If these children are born, they will be enough for Xu Kun to make a mainland version of Ten Brothers.
All of these things make it hard to describe Xu Kun as the number one gangster and LTP in the Mainland, the type who would not be enough to arouse the anger of the people if he did not kill him.
These fabricated rumors were quickly reprinted by mainland media—the first ones were newspapers owned by Orange Sky Entertainment.
This is not surprising. In 2005, Chengtian Entertainment paid a huge price and swallowed up 95% of the contracted artists of Wang Jinghua and Huayi. It believed that it could unseat Huayi, the number one private company, and replace it.
As a result, Wang Jinghua had indigestion internally, and Xu Kun emerged from the outside to help Hua Yi in times of need. By the time "Assembly" was released, the gap in strength between the two parties had not narrowed, but had actually widened.
How can Wu Kebo of Chengtian Entertainment accept this? In the past, they only secretly gave Hua Yi and Xu Kun eye drops, but this time they stopped pretending. Chengtian Entertainment went shirtless directly.
At the same time, Xu Kun finally ended the road show of "Assembly" and returned to the capital after a long journey.
January 19th.
Huayi’s top floor office.
"Hard work, hard work."
Wang Zhongjun personally poured tea for Xu Kun and handed it to him while saying seriously: "Don't worry, after receiving the news meeting, we have communicated with all the parents of the trainees and signed a consensus letter. No later than tomorrow morning You can see the report.”
Xu Kun took the tea, put it aside, and asked: "Has Chengtian Entertainment tried to bribe the parents of the trainees?"
"I don't know if it's someone from Chengtian Entertainment, but someone did try to contact the parents of the trainees." Wang Zhongjun said solemnly: "But those who can join us as trainees in Huayi generally have some savings at home, otherwise they would not be able to afford to go to South Korea. The fees are high, and the conditions offered there are obviously not enough for them to sell their children’s future and reputation.”
After hearing this, Xu Kun finally felt relieved.
Inmates all know that cases involving the elderly and children are the most troublesome. If a few parents of trainees really come out and swear that their children were bullied by Xu Kun, even if he can prove his innocence in the end, there will be trouble in the process. Take off a layer of skin.
Exhaling a breath, Xu Kun slumped down on the sofa with a tired face, and said speechlessly: "These Hong Kong Islanders are really glass-hearted. If you can't fight head-on, they will throw dirty water on me. This almost makes me think that I am a cross-strait person." The first obscene demon.”
"Haha~"
Wang Zhongjun laughed and said: "Who told you to be too high-profile? The reputation of the Teddy Sisters has recently spread to Japan."
Xu Kun yelled at Qu: "That was a group they formed themselves, not me."
At this time, Feng Xiaogang, who also looked tired, sneered: "In fact, in the final analysis, they are afraid of cutting off their way of making money going north. If you count from the beginning, starting from 2001, the box office champion of Chinese entertainment films in the past year is not Hong Kong Island." Celebrities take the lead?”
Indeed, Cheng Long starred in 2001's "The Lost City"; in 2002's "Hero" starred Jet Li, Tony Leung, Zhang Manyu, and Donnie Yen; in 2003...
Just counting to 2003, Xu Kun couldn't help but question: "No, in 2003, didn't Director Feng win the box office championship with "Mobile Phone"?"
Feng Xiaogang shook his head and said: "The situation that year was special. Several Hong Kong masterpieces were not released in time in the mainland. By the time they were released, pirated copies were already everywhere - and the total box office of "Mobile Phone" was only 53 million. In other years, It's not even in the top three.
And now "Assembly" has surpassed "Transformers"'s 278 million, and there is no suspense about winning the mainland box office championship in 2008.
This is an epoch-making turning point for the mainland film industry. I estimate that from next year, like "Painted Skin", the three leading actors are obviously mainland actors, but they have to treat Donnie Yen, who has only a small role, as a big deal. , will definitely become less and less!
This is tantamount to our "Assembly" leading mainland actors to steal the jobs of Hong Kong filmmakers. If they don't resist, it will be called a ghost.
You'd better be mentally prepared. This is the first wave, and there will definitely be other moves in the future. Your "Operation Kunpeng" with all mainland actors will most likely be regarded as a thorn in their side.
After all, modern action movies have always been the preserve of Hong Kong Islanders, and they definitely don’t want mainland directors and actors to make breakthroughs in this area. ”
"Come just come."
Xu Kun picked up the tea cup and took a sip, and then said flatly: "Mr. Wang, give me a press conference."
"What do you want to do?"
"The Hong Kong dogs bark so hard, how can we not teach them a lesson?"
Wang Zhongjun hesitated and said: "Are you sure? But don't make yourself self-defeating..."
"Don't worry."
Xu Kun smiled mysteriously: "If it were any other time, I might not be completely sure, but this is 2008!"
(End of chapter)