It's reasonable for me, a stuntman, to live a crazy life, right?

Chapter 1028 I Don’t Want to Be Cuckolded! The Great Wall’s “Outstanding” North American Box Office Performance
On the morning of the 16th, the entire "Avengers 3" crew stopped work and rested for half a day.

Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures are going to hold a premiere for "The Great Wall" in North America and have sent out invitations throughout Hollywood, hoping that many Hollywood filmmakers will come to support it.

Although this movie failed to achieve the expected box office results in China, Universal Pictures still has some expectations.

It would be a good thing if the film could do well at the box office in North America.

And in this way, losses in the country will not be a big problem.

Chen Fei had previously promised Zhang Yimou that he would go to the premiere to support him, so he naturally couldn't go back on his word.

It just so happened that almost all the main creative members of the "Avengers 3" crew received invitations, so everyone decided to go together.

After attending the premiere of "The Great Wall" in the morning, I will come back to the crew to film in the afternoon, so that time will not be wasted.

On the minibus, everyone was very happy as we had a rare morning of rest time.

Scarlett Johansson is a master at creating an atmosphere. Not long after they set out, she suggested that everyone perform a special performance to dispel the boredom of the journey.

She chose to do a spicy dance!
Accompanied by the exciting music coming from the car speakers, she started dancing passionately in the corridor, receiving cheers from everyone.

In the front row, Chen Fei, who was in charge of leading the team to the premiere, smiled and clapped along with everyone else, and cheered.

As soon as Scarlett finished dancing, Gwyneth Paltrow followed suit and started dancing hot dance, which caused a group of men to cheer continuously.

Even Elizabeth Olsen was eager to try and show off.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the car became increasingly warm and intense.

However, what Chen Fei did not notice at this moment was that Robert Downey Jr.'s gaze would turn to him from time to time, and his gaze was filled with extremely complicated expressions.

Last night, Robert Downey Jr. did not directly agree to Lamar Wheeler's request.

Although he really longed for that island, he also knew that the role of "Iron Man" was more important to him!
He didn't know Chen Fei, nor did he know the temper and hobbies of this "world's number one director."

If he rashly invites the other party to an island full of "sin" and "chaos", thereby causing the other party's dissatisfaction, then his role in "Avengers" will probably be affected!
Places like Hollywood are very particular about class and stratum, and people like Chen Fei are not people that an actor like him can afford to offend.

Even though he is now a top-tier actor and one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood.

But under the premise that you are not capital, if you rashly offend capital, you may not know how you ended up gone until you die!

Based on this, he did not verbally assure Lamar Wheeler that he could complete the task.

However, he also did not refuse the task.

Because the more he knew about the island, the stronger his yearning for it became!

If he had the chance to go to the island, he would never give up.

Therefore, he plans to carefully observe Chen Fei's every move during the next few months of filming "Avengers 3" to understand the preferences of this "world's number one director."

If the other party is a "like-minded person" like yourself, then the task of inviting him to the island can be completed smoothly.

But if not...

The latter option is not currently under consideration by Robert Downey Jr. He plans to observe Chen Fei for a while before making a decision.

~

The North American premiere of "The Great Wall" was held at the Hollywood Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.

When all the members of "Avengers 3" arrived, they saw that the place was already surrounded by a crowd of people.

Many fans and media gathered at the scene, cheering and flashing cameras at the guests on the red carpet.

And when Chen Fei led Marvel's "superheroes" to make a grand appearance, it triggered thunderous cheers from the audience and flashes of light so bright that they could compete with the scorching sun!
"It seems like there are quite a few Marvel fans gathered here?"

Elizabeth Olsen waved to the fans on both sides and expressed her admiration for the omnipresence of Marvel fans.

"Of course." Scarlett Johansson, who was standing next to him, responded: "Marvel is the most popular in Hollywood right now. We are all international superstars!"

While speaking, her blue eyes stared straight at Fade Chen's broad back.

It is this man who has pushed Marvel to the "top" level in Hollywood, and also made these actors become hot stars around the world.

She couldn't even imagine how great a sense of accomplishment she would feel if she could spend a night with this man!
Unfortunately, she has never found an opportunity, and I don’t know if she can find a suitable opportunity during the filming of "Avengers 3"?

After entering the venue, everyone dispersed.

Chen Fei walked forward all the way to where Leonardo and Matt Damon were.

But... just halfway through his journey, he was stopped by Jing Tian who suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Brother Chen Fei? Why are you here too?!"

Seeing the excitement and surprise in the girl's eyes, Fade Chen smiled and explained, "Director Zhang and Universal Pictures both invited me. I happened to be in Hollywood, so I came to take a look."

After that, he asked again: "When did you come here?"

"We arrived last night." Jing Tian pointed to a place not far away, and saw Liu Dehua, Zhang Hanyu and others following Zhang Yimou and greeting some Hollywood stars.

Several people noticed Chen Fei's appearance at this time, and waved at him with smiles on their faces.

Seeing this, Fade Chen smiled back, but did not go over.

He also has to find Leonardo and go with him to "taunt" Matt Damon.

But at this moment, Little Leo, who was wandering around, saw him first and shouted from a distance: "Fei! Crystal, we are here."

Hearing the voice, Fade Chen subconsciously turned his head and saw Leo holding Matt Damon's shoulders and walking towards him.

Jing Tian covered her mouth and laughed, "Leonardo seems to have mistaken me for Sister Yifei."

"This guy is a bit face-blind, he probably couldn't see clearly because he was far away..."

As they were talking, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon had already walked closer.

"Huh? Not Crystal?"

"What Crystal?" Matt Damon bent his arm and gently bumped his best friend's beer belly. "This is the leading actress of The Great Wall, Sally, whose Chinese name is Jing Tian."

"Okay, maybe I didn't see clearly. Sorry, Sally, I thought you were Fei's girlfriend just now."

"It's okay, Leonardo."

Jing Tian smiled like a doll in a New Year picture, not showing any sign of minding at all.

She knew that the three of them must have something to talk about, so she left on her own accord after saying hello.

“Fei, Matt is probably going to be in trouble this time, hahahahaha!”

Leonardo put his arm around Matt Damon's shoulders again and laughed heartily.

"roll roll roll!"

Faced with the teasing of his friends, Matt Damon seemed helpless and aggrieved.

"The Great Wall" is a definite Class A production project, and as the leading actor, he is responsible for the film's box office performance.

If the movie can be a big hit at the box office, then he will be fine, and even the money he earns and the pay for future films will skyrocket.

But if the movie fails at the box office, then he as the leading actor must take responsibility!
Status, pay, resources, announcements, endorsements... everything will be implicated.

Take Johnny Depp for example. Because of the failure of "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" and domestic violence against his wife, he can hardly get any A-class productions anymore.

If Disney hadn't invited him to continue starring in "Pirates of the Caribbean 5", he would probably have to take on B-class productions now.

The same is true for Matt Damon.

However, unlike Depp, Matt has an Oscar for Best Actor, and his personal reputation is pretty good, so the impact will not be particularly large. Chen Fei smiled and comforted him: "Maybe The Great Wall can be a big hit in North America? In that case, you won't be affected, right?"

"Well, I hope..."

Matt Damon muttered weakly.

The feedback from the Chinese market during this period was very unfriendly to him, which means that it would be difficult for him to enter the Chinese market again in the future.

Affected by this, it will be difficult for him to take on big-budget movies in the future!
However, Leonardo did not forget to continue to add insult to injury: "Matt, I advised you a long time ago not to take on such Sino-foreign co-productions, but you just didn't listen. Now you are in trouble, aren't you?"

"Oh, do you think I'm like you? I'm single, free of worries, and I have children to raise. If I don't take on any roles, do you think you'll have to support my whole family?"

"Isn't being single good? I don't want to tie myself to a woman."

"If you don't get married, your life will be incomplete, and you will never be able to play the essence of the role of 'father'."

"I don't want to play a father. I have realized my dream and I want to enjoy my life!"

The two of them were arguing back and forth, neither of them willing to give in.

But at this moment, Chen Fei, who was standing silently aside, suddenly felt something in his heart.

He stared at Matt Damon for a long time and asked, "Matt, do you have any time available after June?"

"Of course, I'm afraid I won't be able to get any suitable roles for me in the short term."

Matt Damon shrugged and laughed to himself.

But the next second, he suddenly thought of something, his body shook violently, and he reached out and grabbed Chen Fei's arm, and asked expectantly: "Fei? What do you mean by asking this? Do you have a role suitable for me to play?"

As soon as he said this, Leo next to him blinked and quickly shouted, "Fei! I'm also an Oscar winner! No matter what role I play, I can play it better than Matt!"

Fade Chen looked at him suspiciously: "Hey? Didn't you say you don't play the role of 'father'?"

"I can go back home and give birth to one tonight! Or I can go directly to an orphanage and adopt one!"

Matt Damon glared at him speechlessly: "Leon! You are a complete bastard! How shameless!"

"Okay, okay, don't be so excited." Chen Fei broke away from Matt Damon's hand and reminded, "I will contact you when the filming of Avengers 3 is almost finished, and then you can come to the company for an audition.

As for who will be chosen, it depends on who is more ‘lucky’ and who has a deeper understanding of the identity of ‘father’.”

Hearing this, a smile immediately appeared on Matt Damon's face.

As a man with a family and children, he naturally has unique advantages.

“Leon, I advise you to go home now and have a baby before June, otherwise you will definitely not be able to compete with me.”

"Get lost! I don't want to be cuckolded."

Leonardo let go of Matt Damon's shoulder with a look of disgust.

It's already mid-February, and there are only three and a half months left until June. How can he possibly have a child?
However, he has made up his mind to visit the welfare home more often in the next few months.

With his acting skills, it is possible that he will understand it more deeply than Matt Damon.

~

Although he didn't want to watch it a second time, Chen Fei couldn't leave halfway, as that would seem too rude.

So, he could only force himself to watch "The Great Wall" for the second time.

Unlike the domestic version, the foreign editing version focuses more on describing the efforts and contributions made by the two foreigners from Europe in the process of resisting the Taotie.

This modification is mainly to please foreign movie fans, which is understandable.

However, some overseas Chinese who came all the way from Chinatown to attend the premiere, as well as Chinese who have settled abroad, were undoubtedly unhappy after watching this movie.

Chen Fei even noticed that many Chinese people left the theater halfway through the movie, cursing.

Just by looking at their mouth shapes, you can tell that these people must be swearing very dirty!

Based on this, Chen Fei can draw a conclusion with great certainty, that is: The box office and reputation of "The Great Wall" in Hollywood will definitely not be very good!
There are actually five main reasons: cultural differences, insufficient marketing, word-of-mouth problems, fierce competition, and insufficient screenings.

You know, "The Great Wall" integrates Chinese historical and cultural elements. For foreign audiences, there must be a certain cultural threshold and difficulty in understanding.

For example, some of the settings and plots in the film, as well as the gluttonous monsters, will inevitably seem unfamiliar to audiences who are not familiar with Chinese culture, making it difficult for them to resonate with the film.

As for marketing, affected by the failure of domestic box office, Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures have reduced their marketing investment overseas again and again.

Then, in addition, during this period of time, Hollywood blockbusters have been released one after another, the Oscar marketing atmosphere is strong, and it is a period of extremely fierce competition. How can a Sino-foreign co-production like "The Great Wall" possibly compete with local films?

……

The four days 16, 17, 18 and 19 passed by quickly.

The day after the North American premiere of "The Great Wall", it officially entered the North American theater market and officially started its public screening.

However, its box office performance was just as Chen Fei expected, a huge success!
It grossed $588.4 million on the first day, $702.3 million on the second day, and $556.1 million on the third day.

The total box office for the first three days of the weekend was only 1846.8 million US dollars!
Compared with the investment cost of up to 1.5 million US dollars, "The Great Wall"'s box office performance in non-US markets and its IMDb score of only 5.9 are undoubtedly extremely poor!

Faced with this result, Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures simply cut all their marketing investments, and the main creators also completely stopped making any moves, quietly licking their "wounds."

At the same time, when the news of this achievement came back to China, the two major investors, China Film Group and LeTV, fell completely silent.

"1846.8 million US dollars? Haha... Good! Really good! This result is really 'eye-catching'!"

La Peikang was so angry that he almost laughed.

He never imagined that the Sino-foreign co-production he had worked so hard to make would encounter such a poor box office performance!

When this box office result came out, it also meant that the four investors of "The Great Wall" all lost their underwear!

Especially China Film, which has the largest share among them, suffered huge losses!
However, the biggest problem now is that, in addition to "The Great Wall", "The Monkey King 2" is also doomed!
Due to the influence of many imported Hollywood blockbusters, the screening schedule of "Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back" has been reduced again and again, which has also caused the daily box office of this movie to drop to 23 million on the 133rd day of its release, which is today.

In this case, being able to land safely is already a blessing in disguise, and the key extension is nonsense!
When he thought of the bold statement he made at the premiere about the box office of 30 billion+, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

Because according to the current situation, the movie can only reach 15 billion at most, and it cannot even achieve the "small goal" of 20 billion.

A total of 23 producers worked hard for nearly two years, but each of them could only get a profit of about million yuan, and this is without taking into account the time cost...

The more he thought about it, the more angry La Peikang became and couldn't accept it!

Because in his opinion, this profit was like God was playing a joke on him!

He didn't even know how to explain the almost zero profit data if his leader asked him about it.

Should I just say that I worked for two years in vain, just to give Chinese-language films a good foundation?

Isn't this just fooling around?!
He spent the entire morning in a state of self-doubt.

"Is it really like what the outside world says, that I am incapable of achieving anything but always fail? Am I really that bad..."

It was not until noon when his secretary knocked on the door and came in, reminding him that it was time to go to Huayi to attend a cooperation meeting and negotiations that he finally came to his senses.

"What is the topic of today's meeting?"

The secretary was slightly stunned when he heard this, and looked at him with a slightly surprised look, and then reminded: "Boss La, it's about the cooperation negotiation of "The Mermaid 2"."

"Mermaid...2?"

La Peikang's eyes suddenly lit up!
Stephen Chow said that he would direct this movie himself!

So, this project will not continue to fail like "The Monkey King 2", right?
……

(ps: Second update, please vote for me!!!)
(End of this chapter)