China Entertainment: I became a capital tycoon

Chapter 636 634. Only if we win once can we talk

The box office of "Wolf Warrior" was indeed a hit.

A large part of the credit for this is that Wu Jing did a really good job filming and the tough guy image he created is deeply rooted in people's hearts.

Another part of the reason is that Cao Yu deleted some of the most criticized parts of the script online at the time, and increased financial investment to make the film more refined, which also raised the artistic quality of the film to more than one level.

On the premiere day, the box office directly broke the record for Chinese war films, reaching more than 90 million.

With positive reviews online, the box office revenue exceeded 100 million yuan on September 30, the National Day holiday began, which was higher than Cao Yu had expected.

However, the box office of "Legend of White Snake" dropped from 60 million on the premiere day to just over 10 million. It was not just a halving, but a direct plunge.

Another mythological film, "Painted Skin", grossed over 30 million on its first day. Many viewers went to see it for Yan Ne and the many beauties. The word of mouth was neither good nor bad, it could only be described as average.

Wu Jing also became famous, even more famous than when he was filming "Tai Chi Master".

Regardless of the holiday, he invited Boss Cao over for a drink, and also called his good friend Yu Qian, as well as Guo Degang and his son.

"Boss Cao, I won't say anything more. It's all in the wine!"

Wu Jing has been in the entertainment industry for more than ten years. He once followed the path of his senior brother Li Lianjie and went to Hong Kong for many years, but he has always been tepid.

And now, he has finally defeated his senior in terms of box office and word of mouth, how can he not be excited?

"Brother Cao, I watched Wolf Warrior on its premiere day. It was filmed so well. I want to lose weight. I want to be like Brother Wu Jing."

The fat boy Guo Qilin is a smart boy and also wants to have a drink with Cao Yu.

Cao Yu laughed and said, "You are still a child, you can't drink!"

Guo Qilin disagreed: "I have graduated, I will not go to school anymore, I can still make money, I am not a child anymore."

"No school?"

Although Cao Yu knew that Guo Qilin would stop going to school after graduating from junior high school, he couldn't help but look at Guo Degang when he saw the childish little guy.

Guo Qilin smiled and said, "My dad said that there is no money left at home."

"Fuck you! You always make fun of me for making fun of me!"

Guo Degang gave Guo Qilin a light kick, then looked at Cao Yu: "Boss Cao, congratulations on the great sales of Wolf Warrior. Your movie made my son shout that he wants to join the army these days. With how fat he is, why would he join the army?"

After being scolded by his father, Guo Qilin could only keep silent. However, he was still a little unconvinced in his heart and vowed to lose weight.

Cao Yu laughed and said, "Haha, the little guy is ambitious."

In fact, Guo Qilin's reaction was exactly what Boss Cao wanted.

The movie "Wolf Warrior" can influence Guo Qilin, and it will definitely influence more young people.

Bloodiness and indomitable spirit are the spirit that Chinese men should possess.

Instead of making sissy noises, eat peaches!

He looked at the chubby Guo Qilin and said with a smile: "Young Master, if you really want to be a soldier, you can go and give it a try. If you fail, just do crosstalk and practice your acting skills. When Joy of Life is broadcast, you may even be able to be an actor."

Guo Qilin finally became proud: "Dad, look, Brother Cao supports me!"

"I'm afraid that the conscription will not accept you and will punish you."

Guo Degang was usually very strict with his son. He glared at him and then said to Cao Yu, "I'll need your continued support in the future."

He would rather his son be on good terms with Boss Cao, which might help him have a bright future.

After chatting for a while, Wu Jing asked, "Boss Cao, based on the current trend, the box office of Wolf Warrior will definitely be good, so should we continue to work hard and make a second part?"

"You are quite anxious."

Cao Yu laughed and said, "We will definitely shoot the second part. Let's do it in the second half of next year and it will be released the year after. I will prepare the script."

After saying that, he looked at Yu Qian and said, "Teacher Yu, do you want me to assign you a role as well?"

“Can I act, too?”

Yu Qian was stunned. Wolf Warrior is a military movie full of tough guys. What role can he play?
Cao Yu said: "Of course, if war films were to include some comedy elements, they might be better."

"That's true."

Yu Qian was of course happy. Not everyone has the opportunity to act in a work written by Boss Cao.

Guo Degang, who was standing by, was a little envious of his old partner.

The movie he acted in last year, "A Chinese Odyssey", received very bad reviews and did not do well at the box office. He also wanted to act in Boss Cao's movie, but he was not comfortable saying this.

Cao Yu saw this and immediately said with a smile: "Teacher Guo, we have a movie called "Lost in Thailand" next year, how about you make a cameo appearance?"

"Boss Cao is really nice!"

Guo Degang praised in his heart and raised his bowl: "Haha, this drink was not in vain!"

Just three days after the release of the first part of "Wolf Warrior", Cao Yu, Wu Jing and others have already finalized the second part.

After drinking with Wu Jing, Cao Yu took Liu Yifei, accompanied by his son and Liu Xiaoli, and went on vacation abroad.

Now, the son not only calls dad, but also learns to walk. He has the looks of Liu Yifei and Cao Yu, and he will grow up to be a handsome boy.

Now Liu Xiaoli no longer asks Cao Yu to marry her daughter.

In August this year, Hong Kong actors Nicholas Tse and Cecilia Cheung announced their divorce.

In September, actress Yao Chen and her college husband Ling Xiaosu also ended their marriage.

Aunt Liu has seen clearly that marriages in the entertainment industry are indeed unreliable. Instead of getting married, it is better to stay like this. She also sees that Cao Yu is a person who values ​​feelings.

From this perspective, my daughter has better vision and lives more clearly than I do.

When I came back from the trip, the National Day holiday just ended.

In just eight days, "Wolf Warrior" has already earned more than 700 million yuan at the box office, and it is only a matter of time before it exceeds 1 billion yuan.

In today's Chinese film industry, a box office of 500 million is considered a pass, and 1 billion is a big hit.

But its competitor "Legend of White Snake" is in a miserable situation. It has just exceeded 100 million yuan so far, while "Painted Skin", another film that has invested huge money in publicity and promotion, has only made more than 140 million yuan. According to this trend, it will still be difficult for these two films to exceed 200 million yuan.

Starting from the Spring Festival blockbuster "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" this year, Feiyu Entertainment has produced films with good results in almost every stage.

"20 Again" during the May Day holiday, "Ip Man 2" during the summer vacation, and "Wolf Warrior" during the National Day holiday, none of them are bad. Everyone is even speculating about the heights that Feiyu's other films this year will reach.

At the same time, other entertainment companies all have a fear of being dominated by Feiyu.

In fact, Cao Yu had already anticipated such box office results and was not surprised.

The now released "Wolf Warrior" was made by taking the essence and removing the dross. It would be strange if it didn't do well at the box office.

On the first day back at the company, Cao Yu pulled out the acting assessment results of the company's artists at the end of September.

Except for Zhang Yuqi who was filming "White Deer Plain", and Liu Yifei and Yang Mi who have become bosses, all the artists of the company participated in this assessment.

"Oh, Xiaochen got A's in all his grades, not bad, not bad."

The scores were ranked from high to low, and the one with the best performance in this assessment was Wang Xiaochen, who had been in the company not long ago.

Cao Yu thought about it. This girl graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy. She can sing and play the role of a female warrior. She is also pretty. It is completely reasonable for her to get such a grade.

The second place surprised Cao Yu a little, as it was Liu Shishi.

Except for her lines, where she was B, her dancing, acting, martial arts and figure were all A's.

"This girl worked really hard and actually came in second. It seems like she was stimulated by the last time she filmed The Blade of the Assassin."

Cao Yu watched a video of Liu Shishi's performance and felt it was really good.

It was reasonable that Jing Tian got the third place in the assessment.

Her results were almost the same as Liu Shishi's, except that her performance score was slightly lower.

The next ones with outstanding results were Mao Xiaotong and Zhao Liying, but their performance was all due to their figure, probably because their figures were not as good as others.

As for Song Qian, except for her dialogues and martial arts, where she is B, her dancing, acting, martial arts and figure are all A. Cao Yu feels that after "Love Is Not Blind" is released, she will be able to take on the leading role in the future.

The most unfortunate thing is Ni Ni. She and Wang Xiaochen were the only ones who got an A in the lines. Unfortunately, they lost in dance and martial arts. There is nothing we can do about this. Ni Ni majored in broadcasting and had almost no foundation in dance. She got a C, which was not bad.

The most disappointing one was Yang Ying. Except for her figure score which was A, her performance in other assessment items was a mess. She was even worse than the younger Bai Bingyan.

"It seems like she can only be a variety show expert."

Cao Yu gave Yang Ying a characterization. Since she was relying on the fans she had accumulated through "Running Man", she had already given up and decided to do whatever she wanted. So why should he care about her?

Among male artists, the best is Wang Baoqiang, followed by Huang Bo, Zhang Yi and others. Even Xiao Zhan has made great progress.

After looking at everyone's results, Cao Yu had a rough idea of ​​the actors in next year's plays.

As long as these artistes are trained, the entertainment industry may be put on the right track in the future, and the phenomenon of young and handsome actors being eliminated will not occur.

At this time, the secretary pushed the door open.

"Boss Cao, the editor Yu Zheng is here last time, would you like to meet him?"

"Let him come up."

Not long after, Yu Zheng came in cautiously with a file bag.

"Mr. Cao, congratulations on the box office success of Wolf Warrior."

Yu Zheng had a smile on his face and he started by complimenting Feiyu on his recent movie, hoping to gain some favor.

Cao Yu was too lazy to talk so much nonsense, so he looked up and asked, "Where's the script?"

"it's here"

Yu Zheng hurriedly took out a stack of documents from his file bag, which was quite thick, and placed them respectfully in front of Boss Cao.

Cao Yu took a quick glance and saw four big words written on it: New Smiling Proud Wanderer.

Cao Yu laughed and said, "I thought it was the Divine Condor, but it turned out to be the Laughing Proud, but that's OK."

Yu Zheng hurriedly explained, "Boss Cao's portrayal of Yang Guo is still a classic, and it will be hard to surpass it in a short time. How can I have the nerve to adapt The Return of the Condor Heroes? And I also like The Smiling, Proud Wanderer."

"hehe."

In response to such flattery, Cao Yu just smiled, opened the script, and read the plot. It was indeed that bloody "Swordsman".

It’s just that there is no heart-changing setting in the end. It is probably because he didn’t film "Painted Skin 2", Yu Zheng couldn’t come up with such a plot. Instead, the ending is similar to the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", where Dongfang Bubai committed suicide by jumping off a cliff.

He placed the script on the table and asked, "How did Dongfang Bubai become a real woman? This doesn't match the original novel."

Yu Zheng said: "Boss Cao, in all previous versions of Swordsman, Dongfang Bubai was always a man, which was not good at all. Although the movie directed by Xu Ke changed Dongfang Bubai from a man to a woman, I will just set her as a woman, maybe it will be more attractive."

"It's a good idea."

Cao Yu nodded without denying and continued reading the script.

Yu Zheng was very nervous, fearing that Boss Cao would look down on him.

Sure enough, after reading to the end, Cao Yu put the script down again, as if he wanted to make some suggestions.

Yu Zheng's heart was in his throat, but he heard Boss Cao say, "If the last part is that Ren Yingying is poisoned, and Dongfang Bubai gives his heart to Ren Yingying in order to fulfill Linghu Chong's wish, wouldn't that be more touching?"

"Mr. Cao, what a great idea! You are indeed the Oscar-winning screenwriter!"

After hearing this suggestion, Yu Zheng finally put his mind at ease and said with great admiration, "If we change it as Mr. Cao said, girls will definitely like it."

"Then go back and edit it again, and delete the irrelevant love lines, such as Ren Woxing's love, and Dongfang Bubai's love for that maid. These have no meaning to the plot, so don't include them."

"Ok."

Yu Zheng originally thought that the emotions he wrote were so good that it would be a shame to delete it, but since Boss Cao had a request, he had no choice but to do it.

Who made Boss Cao the investor?

Cao Yu added: "Sign the contract with Feiyu today. The script must be revised before the end of the month, the casting will be done at the end of the year, and filming will start after the Spring Festival."

"Okay, I will definitely change it according to the schedule!"

When he heard about signing the contract, Yu Zheng suppressed his excitement and nodded repeatedly.

At the same time, I felt that the nights I had spent during this period were not in vain. If I could get close to Boss Cao, I would have everything.

However, Boss Cao’s requirements are indeed a bit high.

Then I thought, he has won four Oscars, so it is normal for him to have high demands.

After Zheng left, Cao Yu had nothing to do and started planning the actors for the play in his mind.

First of all, as a beauty created by Jin Yong, Ren Yingying is definitely not worthy of Yuan Shanshan’s thick lips.

Although she is the heroine in the original novel, in the script written by Yu Zheng based on the movie "Eastern Invincible", the Eastern Sect Leader is the heroine.

"If it doesn't work, let Jing Tian try Ren Yingying. Her appearance and temperament are good enough, but it's a pity to be the second female lead."

If Dongfang Bubai had not been set as a 34-year-old old woman in the film, Cao Yu really wanted Jing Tian to play the role of the Eastern Patriarch.

"Zhang Ruoyun can play Linghu Chong, but he is not Lin Pingzhi"

Thinking of this, the image of Chen Xiao flashed through his mind. The actor was good-looking and his acting skills were also okay.

"Chen Xiao is a good actor, but it's a pity that he married Xiao Long Bao, which almost ruined his career."

Thinking of Chen Xiao, Cao Yu shook his head and said with a smile: "Next time there is a chance, try to sign him to our company, so that he won't be harmed by Xiao Long Bao."

With the addition of the two dramas "Tiny Times" and "New Smiling Proud Wanderer", the company has two more projects for next year.

Cao Yu increasingly felt that the company should recruit more new artists, so he asked the agency department to pay more attention to the outstanding newcomers from the Central Academy of Drama and the Shanghai Theatre Academy, and try to sign more people.

The whole month of October was a relatively leisurely one for Cao Yu. Apart from paying attention to the progress of the music program "China Music Show", he also occasionally wrote the script for "Wolf Warrior 2".

Ten days after its release, the box office of "Wolf Warrior" began to decline, just like other movies, but it still grossed 20 to 30 million yuan a day.

The film "Love Is Not Blind", which is advertised as a once-in-a-century Singles' Day, also makes the audience full of expectations.

Many people in the industry think that not only can Boss Cao make money, but his operations taking advantage of Singles’ Day are simply amazing.

Huayi.

"Brother, the box office of Wolf Warrior has exceeded 1.2 billion. It's really unexpected."

Wang Zhonglei was very envious when he saw the box office results of the movies in October.

"I really didn't expect that Wu Jing could achieve such results in her first time as a director without any big-name stars in the film. It's quite amazing."

In addition to envy, Wang Zhongjun also felt helpless.

In the past two years, none of the films produced by Huayi has grossed over 1 billion yuan.

In CCTV's hit program "The Tenth Screening Room", they have not been praised for a long time except for being mercilessly criticized.

At this time, Wang Zhonglei said, "Ever since Wolf Warriors became a big hit, I have had a bad feeling these past few days. What if our 1942 can't compare to Feiyu's Blades of the Assassin and So Young?"

"You feel the same way, I thought I was the only one..."

Wang Zhonglei smiled bitterly and said, "It seems that your loss to Cao Yu last time might be a blessing in disguise. Now that we have become good friends with Boss Cao, I will find a chance to talk to him and see if we can work together on a movie..."

"I think it's okay."

Wang Zhonglei immediately expressed his support for his elder brother's idea: "Brother, you see, the cooperation between Ali and Cao Yu has increased the stock price. If we can cooperate with Feiyu, we may also have the same effect."

"Ahri..."

Mentioning this name made Wang Zhongjun feel even more uncomfortable: "I can understand that Ali is running an entertainment company. Ma Yun wants to emulate Cao Yu. Humph, he has great ambitions. But he is planning to reduce his stake in us recently, which is a bit dishonest. This person is too cunning and cannot be trusted. We really misjudged him."

"If he really wants to cash out and turn against us, then we should cooperate with Boss Cao and let him defeat Ahri completely."

Wang Zhonglei couldn't wait to say, "Brother, why don't we meet with Boss Cao in the next two days? He happens to be in Yanjing."

"Let's wait a few more days for Love Is Not Blind to be released. Our Love has big stars like Zhao Yanzi, and it also uses the Singles' Day gimmick, so maybe the box office won't be too bad."

Wang Zhongjun said this, and seeing his brother was anxious, he added: "Only if we win at the box office once, or almost win, can we negotiate for more benefits!"

(End of this chapter)