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

Chapter 1444 The glorious era of Feng Xiaogang's comedies has come to a complete end!

"The comedy film 'The Annual Meeting Can't Stop!', produced by Jia Ying Pictures, directed by Dong Runnian, and starring Da Peng, Bai Ke, and Zhuang Dafei, has officially concluded its run after one month of release, grossing 11.69 billion yuan."

"Hong Kong films such as 'Lives of Omission' and 'Goldfinger' have successively announced their closing dates, with box office takings of 4.12 million and 5.74 million respectively."

"The comedy/romance film 'If You Are the One 3,' produced by iQiyi and Dongyang Mela Pictures, directed by Feng Xiaogang, and starring Ge You, Shu Qi, Fan Wei, Yu Shuxin, and Yao Chen, has been forcibly pulled from theaters due to the exhaustion of its box office potential, with a total box office of 1.36 million yuan."

"As of now, the New Year's Day film season has basically ended, with only the anti-fraud film 'All or Nothing' still showing in theaters during the Lunar New Year film season..."

...

With the official arrival of February, the Lunar New Year and New Year's Day film seasons have come to a complete end.

However, looking back at these two previously highly anticipated and popular film seasons, the results have left many industry insiders feeling quite disappointed.

Because in the film market, the overall box office performance not only failed to meet market expectations, but also experienced a "collective cold reception".

Apart from the anti-fraud film "All for the Winner," which, thanks to its solid plot and broad social resonance, is about to break the 3 billion yuan mark at the box office and has also obtained the qualification for key extension, maintaining a good number of screenings and occupancy rates in February, almost all other films have "slumped."

Even the dark horse of the New Year's Day season, "The Annual Meeting Can't Stop!", only grossed 11.69 billion yuan in its first month of release.

This result seems quite impressive, but compared to the initial claim of "box office exceeding 20 billion" made by its producers, the gap is still obvious.

As for the Hong Kong films "Lives of Omission" and "Goldfinger," they concluded their run with box office earnings of 4.12 million and 5.74 million respectively.

Compared to the film's investment costs and cast, it can only be considered "barely breaking even".

Looking at Feng Xiaogang's "If You Are the One 3," it was an even bigger flop. Due to the exhaustion of its box office potential, it was directly pulled from theaters, with a total box office of only 1.36 million yuan, making it the most "flop" film during this year's double release period.

However, online attention to the lower-than-expected box office performance of the two films did not last long.

With the arrival of February, films scheduled for the Spring Festival have launched their "promotional sprint mode".

Various trending topics, roadshows, and trailers bombarded the market, instantly diverting all attention!

Among them, the four films, "Detective Chinatown 1990", "Hot Hot", "Pegasus 2", and "The Twentieth", have been hailed by netizens as the "Four Kings" of the Spring Festival film season, thanks to their strong IP appeal and cast and crew, and have become the most anticipated films of this year's Spring Festival.

The four films each have their own promotional gimmicks, precisely targeting the interests of different audience groups.

"Detective Chinatown 1990" focuses on "IP nostalgia + upgraded suspense".

As a prequel to the "Detective Chinatown" series, the film focuses on "the story of Tang Ren and Qin Feng's fathers" and also invited Liu Dehua and Jiang Wen to join the cast. The trailer is full of retro-style Hong Kong street scenes in the 90s and mind-bending case clues, making "Detective Chinatown" fans exclaim "my youth is back".

As for "Hot and Spicy", it ignited the entire internet with the topic of "Jia Ling's suspected weight loss".

From the initial official announcement that "Jia Ling will lose weight for the role," to the various blurry behind-the-scenes photos released later, everything has sparked public discussion about "self-discipline," and made many viewers curious about what kind of surprises this transformative work will bring.
As for "Pegasus 2", it continues the core of "comedy + racing".

The "racing team" consisting of Shen Teng, Fan Chengcheng, and Yin Zheng is packed with laughs.

In the trailer, Shen Teng recreates the famous scenes of his grueling training, and Fan Chengcheng's portrayal of a rookie driver with a charmingly unexpected side has become popular material on social media platforms.

Many viewers said they just wanted to watch a lighthearted comedy during the Spring Festival, and everything else had to take a backseat.

In contrast, the final "Article 20" takes the route of "realistic themes + family-friendly".

Zhang Yimou's first attempt at a legal education comedy focuses on the stories of ordinary people and the law.

In the film, Zhang Yi plays a prosecutor facing a difficult choice between family and work, while Fan Wei plays a father struggling for his son. The storyline is full of everyday life and can also provoke the audience to think about law and humanity. It is predicted by the industry to be a dark horse candidate for the Spring Festival film season.

As the promotional efforts for the four films intensified, some netizens even started making box office predictions.

Someone started a poll on social media asking people to predict which movie would become the box office champion during the Spring Festival.

Some film bloggers have also analyzed the box office potential of each film in detail, taking into account factors such as the film's subject matter, the star power of the main cast, and expected screening schedules, predicting that "Detective Chinatown 1990" may break 35 billion yuan, and "Hot Hot" is expected to reach 30 billion yuan...

Some netizens even compiled a list of movies to watch during the Spring Festival, saying they wanted to see all four and planned to book all the movie tickets for the holiday.

Suddenly, discussions about the "Four Kings" of the Spring Festival film season became the focus of the entire internet.

Whether it's posters in the subway, trailers on short video platforms, or casual conversations among friends, these four movies are always a hot topic.

Amid this enthusiastic promotional atmosphere, everyone in the cinema market is also looking forward to it.

They all want to know whether the performance of these four films can reverse the previous situation of sluggish box office during the Spring Festival and inject a strong boost into the film and television market in 2024.

Meanwhile, while the "Four Kings" of the 2024 Spring Festival film season were grabbing attention across the internet with their intensive promotions, "Boonie Bears: Reverse Time" was quietly creating surprises in a corner that no one noticed.

As a perennial box office hit during the Spring Festival season, this animated IP, which has accompanied audiences for many years, saw its box office soar after pre-sales began, thanks to its precise "family-friendly" positioning and the good reputation it has accumulated over the years!
In just three days, the pre-sale box office successfully exceeded 5000 million yuan, once again demonstrating its high value as a "stabilizer of the Spring Festival box office".

Many parents shared screenshots of their ticket purchases on social media, saying that taking their children to see "Boonie Bears" every Spring Festival has become a habit.

Its strong audience engagement has prompted many industry insiders to remark:
"Never underestimate the box office appeal of 'Boonie Bears' during the Spring Festival!"

At the same time, filming for the TV series "The Three-Body Problem" was still in full swing.

However, on the small table in front of Chen Fei, where a walkie-talkie was placed, several invitations to the premieres of Spring Festival movies were piled up one after another.

The distributors of "Detective Chinatown 1990", "Hot Summer Days", "Pegasus 2" and "The Twentieth" all extended invitations to him, hoping that he could attend and show his support.

The assistant, holding the invitations, asked in a low voice, "Mr. Chen, how should we respond to these premiere invitations? Should we schedule time to attend them all?"

Chen Fei picked up the invitation and flipped through it. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I will personally attend the premieres of 'Article 20' and 'Detective Chinatown 1990'."

As for "Hot Summer Days" and "Pegasus 2," I'll arrange for them to be filmed at the company. Whoever is less busy can attend and give me a brief feedback on the event and their impressions of the films.

He didn't look down on the latter two films.

He paid attention to Jia Ling's weight loss for "Hot and Spicy" and Shen Teng's continued comedic style in "Pegasus 2".

However, the premieres of both films are scheduled for the next day or two.

Currently, the filming of "The Three-Body Problem" is in the process of filming key scenes, involving a large number of special effects shots and the coordination of extras.

As the chief director, he simply couldn't spare the time for other tasks.

However, he will not miss either of these two movies once they are officially released during the Spring Festival.

He will make a point of going to the cinema to see the two films and experience their quality firsthand.

No one knew that he was undergoing a silent shift in his mindset during this time.

The advantages brought by his rebirth had been completely exhausted a month ago. Although the high-quality projects he seized with his "prophetic" abilities and the pitfalls he avoided in the industry had laid a solid foundation for him.

However, there was no "future script" for him to refer to from then on.

From initially relying on his reborn memories to quickly establish a presence, to now having to rely on his own judgment of the market and the refinement of his works to move forward step by step, his mindset has gradually changed from "effortless" to "cautious and steady".

He knew very well that he couldn't afford to make any mistakes in the next step.

Because the film and television market is constantly changing!
With the warning of lackluster box office performance during the two-week period and fierce competition from the "Big Four" during the Spring Festival, a slight misstep could lead to being eliminated by the market.

Therefore, he had to "know himself and his enemy" by personally watching these films and closely observing the creative ideas and market feedback of his peers.

This is also to more accurately grasp audience preferences.

After all, only by thoroughly understanding the latest industry trends can the subsequent production and distribution of "The Three-Body Problem" better meet market demands, and only then can Feiyue Film & Television gain a foothold in future competition.

Although the benefits of his rebirth have passed, his film and television journey has only just begun to enter the real testing phase.

Although the future is unknown, every unknown step will become an opportunity for him to rewrite the ending.

Chen Fei firmly believed that absolutely nothing could stop him from moving forward!

Meanwhile, in the office of Dongyang Meila Film Industry, Feng Xiaogang was staring at the box office data report of "If You Are the One 3" on the table, his face pale, and his heart sank to the bottom.

It's worth noting that this film had an investment of 1.8 million yuan, covering numerous expenses such as actor salaries, marketing and distribution costs, and production costs.

The frustrating thing is that the final box office revenue was only 1.36 million.

This figure doesn't even cover a fraction of the investment cost.

According to the usual practice in the film and television industry, the box office revenue is subject to a 3.3% special business tax and a 5% film industry development fund. The remaining portion is then divided among the theater chains, cinemas, and producers according to a set ratio, with the producers receiving approximately 33%.

Based on this calculation, after deducting taxes and fees, the production company will actually receive less than 4000 million yuan from the 1.36 million yuan box office revenue.

Dongyang Meila Pictures' investment ratio in "If You Are the One 3" is 50%.

In other words, Feng Xiaogang's final share of the money will be less than 2000 million!

"Another wave of huge losses..."

Feng Xiaogang muttered to himself, his voice filled with exhaustion and despair.

This is not the first time he has suffered a box office flop.

From the underperformance of "Only Cloud Knows" to the complete flop of "If You Are the One 3", each of his films has been a loss-making success, leaving his company with a severe cash shortage and owing a considerable amount of money to his partners.

If we keep making films like this, the debt will only snowball.

He simply couldn't repay it on his own.

At this point, he finally gave up on the idea of ​​making a comeback with a new film.

He rubbed his throbbing temples, and for the first time, the thought of "stopping" popped into his mind.

I'm not making any more films, and I'll never direct another one!

It's not that I didn't want to film, it's just that I had no other choice.

Because he no longer understands the audience's preferences, the films he makes are all bad movies that neither gain critical acclaim nor make money at the box office.

Rather than continuing to struggle in the film and television industry, it's better to cut your losses as soon as possible.

How can I repay the money I owe?
Feng Xiaogang's gaze fell on the business license of "Dongyang Meila Film Industry," and a helpless thought gradually became clear.

Perhaps, all we can do is see how much this company is still worth.

Alternatively, you could simply take out a mortgage loan from a bank and exchange company shares for funds.

Alternatively, they could sell the company, use the money to pay off their debts, and then barely make ends meet with the remaining funds.

He never imagined that the company he founded, which once carried his film dream and experienced a failed profit-sharing agreement, would now become his last "lifeline".

As for the future direction of development, Feng Xiaogang is now completely at a loss.

He leaned back in his chair, gazing at the gray sky outside the window, completely unable to see which way to go.

If selling the company can solve the debt problem, and if not, then just retire completely.

No more concern for the controversies in the film industry, no more anxiety about box office figures, just a peaceful and stable life for the rest of my days...

"Remember back then..."

Feng Xiaogang's thoughts couldn't help but drift back to the past.

Back when Huayi Brothers was at its peak, it was the most sought-after "King of the Lunar New Year Film Season" in the industry. Every movie it released would spark heated discussions among the public, and it was surrounded by stars wherever it went.

But now, Huayi is no longer as glorious as it once was, and has been delisted and gone bankrupt.

Even the two Wang brothers had already entered the iron fence one after the other.

To this day, he still can't figure out how Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei were arrested and brought back.

One fled to Singapore, and the other to Myanmar, but in the end they were both "caught in the open sea," which is really strange.

On the other hand, he himself has gone from "Director Feng" to "box office poison," and even his company has to be sold off to pay off debts.

"What an irony of fate."

Feng Xiaogang shook his head with a wry smile, picked up his phone and dialed the finance department. His voice was hoarse but carried a hint of determination: "Could you contact an appraisal agency for me to take stock of the company's assets and see how much they can be valued at now..."

"Okay, Director Feng."

A response came from the other end of the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Feng Xiaogang looked out the window again, his eyes filled with endless loneliness.

His era in film has truly come to a complete end...

(End of this chapter)