With the development of the domestic film market, the total box office of May Day, the second or even third small period of the year, is also increasing year by year.
The total box office for the May Day holiday in 2016 was 650 million yuan, 784 million yuan in 2017, 1.006 billion yuan in 2018, and 1.527 billion yuan in 2019.
By 2021, due to the release of popular movies such as "Your Wedding" and "On the Cliff", the total box office of the May Day movie that year exceeded 1.682 billion, setting a new record for the box office, attendance, and number of performances in the May Day movie history, nearly 44.45 million Number of people watching the movie.
There are many reasons for whether a schedule is popular and whether it can get high box office.
The length of the holiday, whether the audience has money and leisure is one aspect, and whether there are popular movies released is also very important.
When Hollywood blockbusters were popular in China more than ten years ago, due to the need to protect domestic films, they were basically released during non-popular times. However, this did not prevent them from selling tens of billions to two billion and setting box office records one after another.
This year's May Day movies such as "Miracle: Stupid Kid" and "Hello, Brother" are very popular.
Especially for "Miracle", pre-release screenings spread the movie's reputation. On May Day, its box office exceeded 100 million, surpassing "Hello, Brother" with 68.24 million to become the first in the national box office on that day.
After the four-day holiday, [Miracle·Stupid Kid] relied on its good reputation to win the championship for five consecutive days, with a total box office of 489 million during the May Day period, becoming the biggest winner in the May Day period this year.
"This movie is really good, just like you said it's a good movie!
Director Wen Muya did not disappoint”
Coming out of the cinema in the evening, Liu Yifei and Gu Wei were chatting about the movie "Miracle·Stupid Kid" they had just finished watching.
"Do you feel like this movie is familiar?"
"Deja vu?" Liu Yifei didn't understand.
Gu Wei smiled and explained: "A down-and-out man at the bottom of society, with a child, needs a lot of money.
At this time, he just got an opportunity to make a lot of money, so he bought a lot of goods, and in order to sell these goods, he formed a team.
There are single mothers who work hard, loyal old men with special skills, grumpy men with high self-esteem, and good-tempered peacemakers.
Everyone worked hard for one goal, experienced a lot during this period, and became like a family.”
"[I'm not the God of Medicine]?"
I didn't realize it when I was watching the movie. When Gu Wei said this, Liu Yifei realized that the setting was almost the same as that of "The God of Medicine" a few years ago.
Gu Wei nodded.
"[Miracle] was written by Wen Muye himself. When he wrote the script, he was somewhat influenced by [The God of Medicine].
The film’s narrative structure and character relationships are very similar to [The God of Medicine].”
"If you hadn't told me, I really wouldn't have noticed that he looks so much like the [God of Medicine]"
"This is Wen Muye's brilliance.
Although [Miracle] applies a template, it still puts a lot of effort into storytelling.
Twists, conflicts, comedy, sensationalism are all here, and the techniques and routines are complete.
The storyline is touching but does not feel cliche or boring. From this point of view, [Miracle] is definitely a good film above the standard”
Liu Yifei thought for a while: "I also think [Miracle] is very good, and Peng Yuchang's performance is also very good, but I always feel that there is still a big gap with [I am not the God of Medicine]."
"This is normal.
The script of "Miracle" is quite inferior to "The God of Medicine". Although Wen Mu has made great progress in his directing skills over the years, it cannot make up for the essential gap between the two films."
Liu Yifei blinked her big eyes: "Please tell me more specifically."
Gu Wei thought for a moment: "Let's talk about the most important protagonists of the two movies first.
[Miracle] The male protagonist played by Peng Yuchang was very good from the beginning, with no flaws.
He is an almost perfect person from the beginning. He is stubborn, tolerant, dotes on his sister, and works hard. These labels are consistent throughout.
There seems to be nothing wrong with this kind of character design, but being too perfect means a lack of growth, a lack of character isolation and tension, and it is difficult for the audience to immerse themselves in it.
And [Medicine God] does this very well.
Xiao Yang's character was a profit-seeking small businessman from the beginning. In the first half of the movie, he only sold medicine to make money.
Later, after seeing the pain of patients and the death of friends, I was greatly shocked and my whole life changed completely.
He gave up his personal interests and helped patients regardless of gains and losses, and finally became a civilian hero.
This kind of character growth is what touches the audience the most and is also the charm of the character.
Let’s talk about the plot.
The plot design of "The God of Medicine" is very natural. The advancement and turning points of the story, as well as the choice of characters, are all very reasonable and reasonable, and the audience can easily immerse themselves in it.
In this regard, the arrangement of [Miracle] appears to be somewhat ingenious.
For example, the setting of a single mother filing a lawsuit against her former factory due to a work-related injury is to have the opportunity to show the protagonist's sense of justice.
When gangsters came to harass them, the factory manager took the lead in fighting to protect the employees, in order to show that they were a loving family.
These are the essential differences between the two films.
So [I’m Not the God of Medicine] has a score of 9 on Douban, and [Miracle·Stupid Kid] currently only has a score of 8.”
Liu Yifei nodded in agreement, then smiled and said: "Although there is a gap between [The God of Medicine], it does not prevent [The Miracle] from being a good movie."
"That's for sure. Compared with other movies, [Miracle] has already left them a few miles behind.
I say that the craftsmanship of "Miracle" is compared to "The God of Medicine", but in fact this movie can definitely be used as a model of a successful commercial film.
In some movies, not only are the stories unclear, but the logic is even nonsense.”
Liu Yifei tilted her head slightly and looked at Gu Wei: "Why do you feel there is something in your words?"
Gu Wei shrugged: "I'm talking about the movie [Hello, Brother] from the same period."
"Is that movie so bad?
I remember that "Hello, Brother" has taken more than 200 million at the box office so far, and it is the highest-grossing movie on May 1st besides "Miracle". ”
"[Hello, Brother] is basically a low-profile version of [Hello, Li Huanying]. It starts to gain popularity from the name.
But in terms of quality, there is a gap between it and [Li Huanying] by several [Cheng Feng Break Liang].”
After the May Day holiday, the domestic film market became increasingly cold.
The box office of many released films plummeted after release. "Miracle: Stupid Kid" suffered the smallest decline among all films due to its good reputation. However, the total box office only exceeded 800 million after three weeks of release, and it seems to have exceeded 1 billion. Hopeless.
The box office of "Hello, Brother", which received negative reviews online, basically collapsed after the working day, with 240 million in 5 days, and only 70 million in more than two weeks.
Although it is a bit different from Wen Muye's other films, Gu Wei is very satisfied with the box office of "Miracle".
Don't look at the box office of some first-time movies now, which can easily earn billions. The total of "Changjin Lake" and "Changjin Lake" is even more than 11 billion.
But in fact, any ordinary movie with a box office of 3 to 50 million is considered a good success, and a movie with more than 500 million is considered a big hit.
The investment in [Miracle·Stupid Kid] is only 100 million, and the total cost including publicity and distribution and other expenses is 150 million.
Now with a box office of more than 800 million, the profit has nearly doubled.
"Congratulations on the success of [Miracle]. It's hard work leading the crew on road shows during this time!" Gu Wei also called Wen Mu.
"There is still about a week to be released, but looking at the current box office trend, it should not reach 900 million.
The box office of more than 800 million is not bad, and I feel relieved that I finally didn’t ruin my own brand.”
"Hahaha, Lao Wen, you are too humble to say that.
If [Miracle]’s reputation and box office are just okay, then more than 90% of the movies in the industry are garbage.”
"I dare not say that." Although Wen Mu has produced many excellent works in recent years, he himself has always been very low-key, and he does not talk much even when promoting movies.
"Mr. Yang said that he will hold a celebration party for the crew of [Miracle] in a few days. Will you come back to participate?"
"I definitely want to go back, and I also want to meet with you to talk about [Extreme Rescue]."
When Gu Wei mentioned this, Wen Mu couldn't help complaining: "We promised to take a break, but in the end, I was asked to be the producer of [Manslaughter 2], and then spent more than half a month promoting the movie.
I have finally finished my busy work, and now I have to start preparing for your new movie.”
"He who can do it should work harder. You can take as long as you want after filming [Extreme Rescue] is finished.
Let’s have a drink at the celebration party in a few days! ”
After comforting Wen Mu and a few words, Gu Wei hung up the phone.
"Are you going to ask for leave in a few days?"
Liu Yifei, who was sitting next to him, asked.
"Yes, the company is hosting a celebration banquet for the crew of [Miracle·Stupid Kid]. I will go back. In addition to attending the banquet, I will also go back to handle some company matters."
Check out the 16-9 book bar and see the correct version!
Gu Wei put the phone aside and reached out to hug Liu Yifei into his arms.
"I just heard you mention that movie with the same world view as [Wolf Warrior 2]. Is it going to start filming in the second half of the year?"
"Yes, [Extreme Rescue].
Not only does it have the same world view as "Wolf Warrior 2", it is also related to the movie "John Wick 4" I shot at the beginning of the year.
I plan to give this movie to Wen Mu to shoot. I gave him the script a few months ago and it is still in the early stages of preparation."
Liu Yifei raised her head slightly: "Is there a role suitable for me?"
Gu Wei shook his head: "In addition to the male protagonist, the main role in [Extreme Rescue] is the rescued sister. That role must be played by Yang Chaoyue, just like in [John Wick].
Most of the other supporting characters are villains, or some scammers who were coerced by the villains, such as beautiful dealers, etc. You are definitely not suitable.”
"Okay~"
Liu Yifei's expression was a little regretful.
"When will the movie [John Wick 4] that you collaborated with Keanu Reeves be released?"
"It was originally scheduled for around August or September, which is a good time for both China and North America."
"So soon?" Liu Yifei was a little surprised. She knew that Gu Wei's movie was only finished in March.
"It's okay.
[John Wick 4] is an action movie, there are no special effects shots, and the post-production is relatively simple.
The finished film has now been released, and [Lionsgate] has been arranging the schedule and preparing for promotion.
I expect it will be in August, in time for the second half of the summer season.”
"I'm looking forward to your first Hollywood blockbuster. I hope it won't be as disastrous at the box office as my film [Mulan]."
Speaking of this, Liu Yifei shook her head: "Definitely not. Judging from your current box office appeal, you have at least a base of more than 2 billion in the domestic market.
The "John Wick" series has always had a very good reputation, and there will definitely be no problem in selling it at the box office! ”
"I hope it's as you said~"
Gu Wei is not worried at all that the Hollywood blockbuster he is participating in will not do well at the box office.
He chose Lionsgate's John Wick project after careful consideration.
Movies in a series usually have the most exciting first one, and then each one is not as good as the last, but the "John Wick" series is exactly the opposite.
From the first part, the sequel has been better than the previous one in terms of box office and reputation. By the fourth part, it has sold more than 400 million US dollars worldwide. The Rotten Tomatoes freshness score is as high as 93%, setting a record for this series.
Even Douban in China has a high score of 8.1.
You must know that this is just a pure gunfight action movie, and the plot and story are relatively simple.
This also shows how exciting the action scenes in this movie are.
Gu Wei replaced Donnie Yen's role in it, and then increased the role of the drama a lot, thus forming a dual male protagonist pattern.
His version retains the exciting action scenes of the original while improving the story of the movie. It is definitely better than the original.
So no matter from every aspect, [John Wick 4] will definitely be a success.
A week passed quickly, and Gu Wei and the director asked for leave and got on the plane back to Beijing.
"Boss, [Huanxi Media] has sent a script over there and wants to invite you to star in it"
On the plane, Gu Wei was looking at his mailbox when Yang Dan came over.
"[Huanxi Media]?
What movie? ”
[Huanxi Media] is the company of Xu Zheng and Ning Hao.
Gu Wei had worked with Xu Zheng before when filming "Cohabitation in Time and Space". When filming "The Wandering Earth", he always had dinner with Ning Hao from the crew of "Crazy Alien" next door. We all have a good relationship.
He thought that the two of them had new projects for him, but Gu Wei couldn't remember what movies Xu Zheng had made at this time. He thought it was a new movie prepared by Ning Hao.
"It's a movie directed by Zhang Yimou, called [Man Jiang Hong], it's a suspense comedy."
Gu Wei didn't understand until Yang Dan put the script in front of him.
Needless to say, I must have chosen myself to play "Sun Jun".
Zhang Yimou and Gu Wei are no strangers either, they have known each other since the first filming of "The Great Wall".
The two of them had talked during the Golden Rooster Awards ceremony last year. At that time, Zhang Yimou said that he would definitely come to him if there was a suitable opportunity. Gu Wei only thought that he was being polite and didn't take it seriously.
“When is Director Zhang’s film going to start shooting?”
“The plan is to start production in July.
It is said that the shooting cycle is very short, it is expected that more than one month will be enough”
Gu Wei laughed, couldn't it be enough? There was only one scene in total, with several people running around acting it out, just like a sitcom.
Gu Wei was thinking while flipping through the script.
"Forget it, I have already decided to film "Extreme Rescue" with Wen Mu in July. After this movie, there will be "Her Disappearance" produced by the company, so I will definitely not be able to spare the time.
Let’s talk to [Huanxi Media] to push it forward”
Yang Dan nodded, hesitated and then said: "Boss, this is the third time you have rejected director Zhang Yimou.
And this time he is still the protagonist. Isn’t that a bit bad? ”
Yang Dan has been following Gu Wei since the company was established soon. From the first assistant to the current executive agent, he knows his affairs very well.
During the preparations for "The Great Wall", Director Zhang invited Gu Wei to play the role of Lu Han, but he turned him down. He only made a guest appearance because of China Film's relationship.
In 2020, Zhang Yimou was filming "Above the Cliff" and invited Gu Wei to play the role of "Wang Chuliang" and the lover of Liu Haocun's character, but he was rejected again.
This time [Manjianghong] is already the third time.
"I know. You reply to [Huanxi Media] normally. I will call Director Zhang alone to explain." (End of Chapter)