China Entertainment's whatever you want

The Spring Festival period is the most popular period of the year, and the market is very large.

Last year's total box office exceeded 10 billion.

Of course, we are not talking about the total box office during the Spring Festival holidays, but the final box office of the movies released on the first day of the New Year.

Last year, "Detective Chinatown 3" earned a super high box office of 58 billion in China, "Hello, Li Huanying" 40 billion, plus "Assassination of Novelist" with a box office of over 10 billion and several other movies, 2021 has been called the strongest Spring Festival period in history.

Judging from the situation, this year's market momentum is no worse than last year.

Generally speaking, it can be said that it is a situation of one superpower and many strong countries.

[Watergate Bridge at Changjin Lake] is undoubtedly the "one superpower".

The box office of "The Battle at Lake Changjin" during last year's National Day was too explosive. According to the rule that sequels usually surpass the originals, people in the industry are optimistic that the box office of "Watergate" may exceed 64 billion.

And everyone knows that "Watergate" is essentially the same movie as "Changjin Lake". There is no change from the director to the actors, so the quality is definitely guaranteed.

At the premiere ceremony, Yu Dong publicly declared that the box office of "Watergate" would be at least over 60 billion yuan, and would most likely surpass "The Battle at Lake Changjin", which attracted many media reports.

[Yang Jian: The Legend of the Condor Heroes] and [Four Seas] are the second tier, followed by [Leon: The Professional] and [Sniper].

The box office performance of several movies on the first day of the Spring Festival was generally consistent with the theaters' predictions, with "Watergate" being the only standout, while the box office performance of the remaining movies was quite different from that of the previous one.

However, what is somewhat surprising is that the first-day box office of "Sniper" was a bit too low.

It is clearly a main theme movie about the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, just like "Changjin Lake", and it is endorsed by Zhang Yimou. However, in such a hot Spring Festival period, the box office on the first day was only 6000 million.

With a bad first day, the subsequent screenings were naturally reduced by the theaters. Three days later, the box office of "Sniper" barely exceeded 7 million yuan. The total box office in the first 2.6 days was million yuan, making it the last one of this year's Spring Festival box office.

Although "Sniper" did not perform well at the box office, its reputation was unexpectedly good. Its Douban score of 7.7 is higher than that of "Watergate".

It is generally believed in the industry that the box office failure of "Sniper" was mainly due to the lack of big-name stars.

[Changjin Lake] features two superstars, Gu Wei and Wu Jing, plus a host of well-known actors and celebrities.

The protagonists of "Sniper" are a group of unknown young actors headed by Chen Yongsheng and Zhang Yu, and the only big star Zhang Yi only makes a guest appearance.

It's understandable that the box office is not good.

In addition to [Sniper], the performance of [Four Seas] is also very surprising.

This Spring Festival blockbuster, the second collaboration between Han Han and Shen Teng, saw its reputation collapse after earning 2.4 million yuan on the first day.

6000 million on the second day, million on the third day, and the box office went down all the way.

By the last day of the Spring Festival holiday, the single-day box office was only over 1000 million.

The first day’s box office accounted for half of the total box office, which is a definite bad movie box office trend.

During this year's Spring Festival, the only films that truly maintained high box office performance were "Watergate Bridge", "Yang Jian" and "The Professional".

[Watergate Bridge] had a total box office of 7 billion in 30 days, [Yang Jian] 21 billion, and [The Professional] 11 billion. These three movies are the real leaders and main force of this year's Spring Festival.

".It's already pretty good. Before it was released, I never thought that [Yang Jian] could reach the heights of [Nezha]. It's already a success if the box office can exceed 20 billion. I can plan to shoot the next one normally.

Judging from the current reputation and box office trends of the film, exceeding 30 billion should not be a problem.

The company will organize a celebration banquet in a few days and give a big red envelope to Director Jiaozi and the main creative team."

At night, in the hotel room, Gu Wei was talking on the phone with Yang Liwen, listening to her report on some recent company affairs.

The main topic of discussion is naturally the currently popular "Yang Jian".

Because of the time difference, although it was night in Paris, it was still daytime in Beijing.

After arranging some work, Gu Wei hung up the phone.

"The company's movie is a big hit again, but it's a pity that we can't see it abroad. I'm looking forward to [Yang Jian]"

Yang Chaoyue raised his head slightly.

She was wearing light yellow pajamas with cartoon patterns and looked like a cute cat.

When Gu Wei was calling just now, she just leaned aside quietly and didn't speak until he hung up the phone.

“Isn’t the company planning on letting the film be shown in other countries?”

Gu Wei stroked her hair gently: "For a movie like Yang Jian that has a strong oriental cultural background, it may be difficult for Western audiences to resonate with it.

Moreover, compared with Disney's animations, our animated films have no advantage in quality.

When Ne Zha was first released in North America, it only grossed $101 million.”

“Anyway, I think [Nezha] is really good, especially the climax at the end, which is so exciting that it made me cry.

Don’t know what [Yang Jian] looks like? "

Gu Wei thought for a moment and said, "The story of Yang Jian is a bit similar to the earliest Monkey King: Hero is Back, with a clear villain.

You see, the title of the movie says it’s about “subduing demons”.

Of course, the main plot is still the growth of the character Yang Jian, and you can refer to [Nezha] for this.

I think the overall quality is OK, but the sense of immersion may not be as good as "Nezha", so the box office will be a little lower.

But compared with other domestic animated films, it is far superior in terms of story and animation effects."

Yang Chaoyue nodded and said, "Around the Spring Festival, I saw many online media saying that Watergate Bridge would create a new box office record.

The total box office of this movie has now exceeded 30 billion, but it seems that the discussion about it is not very high.

I always feel that it is not as popular as when [Changjin Lake] was first released! ”

Gu Wei shook his head: “Bona promoted the film very well before its release, and many industry insiders and audiences are also optimistic about this film.

But I didn’t think from the beginning that the box office of “Watergate” could surpass that of “Changjin Lake”. ”

"why?"

“On the one hand, it’s because of the content. The plot of [Watergate Bridge] is more tragic than [Changjin Lake].

All the members of the Seventh Company died except for "Wu Wanli" played by me.

I still remember the last line of the movie: "The Seventh Interspersed Company was supposed to have 157 people, but only one was there."

It's very touching, but too bitter.

During the Chinese New Year, I think the audience still likes to watch something happy and family-friendly, even if it is a brainless bad movie, many people just want to have fun.

Just like Happy Twist's "The Professional", the quality is actually average, but it was the only comedy among several movies that managed to get the third place in the box office during the Spring Festival.

On the other hand, "Changjin Lake" reaped the initial dividends of movies of this theme.

By the time they got to the Watergate Bridge, the audience was somewhat aesthetically fatigued.

You will see that the box office of future war movies of the type of the Korean War will only get lower and lower."

"Ah? I see. I thought Watergate Bridge could create another box office legend.

So how much do you think this movie will make at the box office in the end?"

Gu Wei thought for a moment and said, "Even if it doesn't reach the level of The Battle at Lake Changjin, the total box office of Watergate won't be low. After all, it has already exceeded 30 billion.

The movie will definitely be postponed. In the next 50 days or so, it should be no problem to get another 20 billion yuan in box office revenue.”

"The total box office is around 50 billion?"

Gu Wei nodded. "That's pretty impressive too, the total box office of the two films has exceeded 100 billion.

Boss, how much money can you make?

Yang Chaoyue raised his little face and asked curiously.

She knew that her boss would definitely have an investment share when he took on external roles.

“The total investment for the two parts of [Changjin Lake], plus the publicity and promotion, was about 15 billion.

With my share, I can probably earn more than 10 billion in net profit."

Gu Wei made a rough calculation.

“One billion RMB?

My God, this is a lot of money, I have never seen so much money in my life!"

Yang Chaoyue's eyes suddenly widened in surprise, and his face was full of amazement.

Gu Wei stretched out his hand and scratched her little face: "Look at you, you look so ignorant~"

"What? I've seen a lot of things, but your income is too outrageous!"

Gu Wei smiled.

Although the total box office of "Changjin Lake" was over 26 billion and very profitable, his share was only %.

In comparison, the profits of "Nezha", "Wolf Warrior 2" and several films in the "Detective Chinatown" series are not inferior to "The Battle at Lake Changjin".

"By the way, where do you live in the capital now?"

“I live in the company dormitory.

It’s not the one that was arranged when I first started as an assistant, it’s the celebrity apartment of the company.”

[Wei Ming Tian Xia] The agency has celebrity apartments specially arranged for its artists, which are fully decorated residences with two bedrooms and one living room in a high-end residential area with an area of ​​more than 80 square meters.

Generally, new artists will stay here, such as Peng Yuchang, Zhou Ye, Tian Xiwei and others who started early.

When people become famous and make money, they usually buy their own houses.

Of course, if you want to continue living there, the company has no objection.

"It's been almost three years since you participated in the talent show. You should have saved a lot of money. Why don't you think about buying yourself a house?"

“Yes, I bought a big house for my parents in my hometown.

The housing prices in Beijing are too expensive. Even a cheap apartment is not as good as the company’s apartment.

Besides, I travel around all year round and don’t stay in Beijing for long, so I’m not in a hurry to buy a house.”

Gu Wei thought for a moment and said, "Well, I still have a lot of vacant properties in Beijing, most of which are large flats in high-end residential areas in the city.

Later you can choose a place closer to your company and move there.

If you want, you can also bring your family members to live here, it will be more convenient than the company’s apartment.”

Yang Chaoyue was a little excited when he heard this, blinking his big eyes: "Boss, are you going to support me?"

Gu Wei rubbed her head and said, "I'll give you a house as an incentive so that you can work harder to make money for me in the future!"

Yang Chaoyue followed him as soon as he became an adult, first as a personal assistant and then as an artist. Over the years, he can be said to be one of the people closest to him.

Moreover, her popularity in the past few years has indeed brought a lot of profits to the company. The money-making ability of top stars is no joke.

A large flat in Beijing worth thirty or forty million is just a drop in the bucket for Gu Wei and is nothing at all.

"Boss, you are so kind. I don't know how to repay you."

Having worked as Gu Wei's personal assistant for two years, Yang Chaoyue certainly knew the quality of the properties owned by her boss.

If she wanted to buy it, she would have to spend almost all of her savings of the past two years.

Gu Wei offered to give her a house, and she was deeply touched.

"Haha, repaying the debt is easy. I can just work like a slave for you."

Gu Wei joked.

The two chatted for a few more sentences, and Gu Wei signaled Yang Chaoyue to be quiet, and he made another call back home.

"Director Yang, congratulations! Yang Jian is a big hit at the box office. The animation team you lead has succeeded again!"

The person on the other end of the phone was "Jiaozi", the director of "Nezha" and "Yang Jian".

After Gu Wei and Yang Liwen finished arranging some things, they naturally had to call "Jiaozi" to express their concern as the boss.

Yang Chaoyue was listening quietly to Gu Wei's phone call. His eyes turned and he thought of something. A smile appeared on his face and he slowly lowered his head.

Of course Gu Wei was aware of her every move, but he still maintained a normal tone when talking to "Jiaozi".

".I was filming overseas during this period and didn’t have time to go back for the celebration party for [Yang Jian].

Let’s meet again when I return to China in a while.”

After Gu Wei hung up the phone, Yang Chaoyue raised his head slightly.

"Boss, am I doing okay?"

"Ahem, very talented~"

The Spring Festival period and even the month of February passed quickly.

Just as Gu Wei said, the box office of "The Battle of Changjin Lake", which had been booming in the early stages, plummeted after the seven-day holiday.

The total box office after one month of release was 46.26 billion RMB.

Even though there is still a month left before the film is released, judging by the current box office trends, it would be a luxury to even reach 50 billion, let alone surpass "The Battle at Lake Changjin".

Maoyan's box office forecast is 48 billion yuan.

It's a bit different from what Yu Dong expected, but compared to the original film [Watergate Bridge] which had a final box office of 40 billion, this figure is already very good.

Moreover, the total box office of the two films "Changjin Lake" has exceeded 110 billion. All major investors have made a lot of money, and Bona, which is the main investor, is definitely the biggest beneficiary.

[Yang Jian: The Legend of the Condor Heroes] finally grossed 31.6 billion yuan.

The box office is nearly 20 billion less than that of "Nezha: The Devil Child Comes into the World", but the movie has a good reputation and it is a successful work no matter how you look at it.

If the animated film with "Yang Jian" as the protagonist is successful, then this series can continue.

Gu Wei has already thought of the title for the second part, which is "Yang Jian Splits the Mountain to Save His Mother".

As a result, Gu Wei's animation company has three animated films to be produced: "Nezha: The Devil Boy Conquers the Dragon King", "Yang Jian Splits the Mountain to Save His Mother", and "Fengshen II: Chaoge Storm".

While each story is relatively independent, the characters are intertwined with each other, truly forming a Fengshen animation universe that belongs exclusively to "Wei Ming Tian Xia".

At this time, Gu Wei was no longer worried that other animation companies would take advantage of the traffic of deified characters such as "Nezha" and "Yang Jian".

Because of the two animated films that laid the foundation, the audience has already solidified the characters in the two films produced by Gu Wei's company.

"Nezha" also appears in "Yang Jian", and the easter egg at the end of the movie also foreshadows some plots of "Nezha Conquers the Dragon King" and "The Legend of Chaoge".

The characters are different. No matter which characters or stories other companies film in Fengshen, the audience can distinguish them from the Fengshen universe of [Wei Ming Tian Xia]. (End of this chapter)