hollywood melon man

Chapter 377 Performance in line with expectations

"'The Mystery of the Talisman' was a huge hit, grossing 1 million yuan on its first day of release in North America. Jackie Chan may surpass Bruce Lee and become the No. 2517 Chinese superstar." - Beijing News.

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean in China, Chinese media are more concerned about the box office performance of "The Mystery of the Talisman" than their Chinese counterparts.

In fact, "The Magician" earned $1526.5 million in North America on its premiere day, but many media outlets have learned the true meaning of the clickbait title.

If we convert US dollars into RMB, the amount will be larger and more eye-catching.

But even if it is not converted into US dollars, the first-day box office result of 1526.5 million US dollars is already quite good.

Apart from the box office, the most attention is of course the actors.

Needless to say, before "The Mystery of the Talisman", Cheng Long was already a very popular Chinese movie star around the world.

The ones who have seen the biggest increase in fame are Bingbing Li and Shu Chang. Both of them are mainland actors, and their traffic is exploding.

Bingbing Li's sister Li Xue called Bingbing Li three times a day to report on the situation in China.

"Sister, you are really famous. Now the front page headlines of the media are all about you."

"Really?" Bingbing Li was actually very excited too. The movie sold well on the first day, so she had to be excited.

Bingbing Li still looked calm on the surface, but in fact she was extremely excited.

"Yes," Li Xue reported excitedly, "Next week, The Mystery of the Talisman will be released in China, and I have invited all my good friends to watch the movie and support you.

Sister, now you have truly become an international actress."

Bingbing Li couldn't hide the smile on her face, but she understood that when it came to international actresses, Shu Chang was the real deal, after all, she was the star of the film.

Because Shu Chang is underage, she is accompanied by her family whenever she comes to North America to film a movie or do promotions.

Although she is young, it doesn't mean Shu Chang doesn't know anything. She knows that the movie is very popular. Her father just called her and told her how explosive the domestic public opinion is now.

Shu Chang felt a little proud and complacent inside. As a child star, she certainly knew how difficult it was to get the role of Xiaoyu this time.

With so many actors from all over the country vying for this role, she finally stood out and successfully got the role. Now is the time to reap the rewards.

Indeed, the media in China was already in an uproar at this time.

Not only the entertainment media, but also the political media and financial media gave it a lot of coverage.

Why did the film "The Mystery of the Talisman" cause such a big response in China, especially in the mainland?
You have to know that when "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was released in North America, there was not such a big reaction in China.

The reason is very simple. To put it nicely, there is basically no role for mainland actors in today's Chinese-language film industry. The famous ones are all those movie stars from Hong Kong Island.

Even mainland directors usually choose Hong Kong and Taiwan stars when making movies, especially after the era of blockbusters began.

In the new movie "Hero" directed by Zhang Guoshi, the leading actors are either Hong Kong movie stars or movie stars who hang out in Hong Kong. There are very few mainland actors involved, and those who do are only in supporting roles.

But "The Mystery of the Talisman" is different. One of the leading actors is a mainland actress, and she is a little girl under the age of fifteen. This is very fantastic.

There is also Bingbing Li, who snatched an important supporting role from a group of Hong Kong beauties, which surprised everyone.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Bingbing Li quickly gained fame and became an overnight hit, becoming a top Chinese actress, and a very prominent one at that.

The media's flattery was passed on to Bingbing Li through Li Xue's oral narration.

She was very proud and satisfied, and also developed a kind of arrogance that was not uncommon among other Chinese-language film stars.

This mentality is normal. After all, before starring in "The Mystery of the Talisman", Bingbing Li's most famous role was Ling Chuchu in "Young Justice Bao".

It's hard for anyone to keep calm after such an overnight success.

On the contrary, Shu Chang, because she is still young, although she is also very proud, she has not yet realized what the role of Xiaoyu means to her.

This is her ticket to superstardom. It can be said that if "Mystery of the Talisman" is successfully serialized, no Chinese actress will be able to challenge Shu Chang's position in the next decade or so.

A big-selling Hollywood commercial movie is enough to change the ecological niche of Chinese-language stars. In the future, those who walk the red carpet abroad and call themselves international movie stars may not be qualified anymore.

Gilbert Jr. had anticipated this scene and he had also gone through this stage. When he was 21 years old and made "The Shallows", which was a box office hit, the media's praise overwhelmed him.

Little Gilbert was proud and complacent for a while, but he soon came to his senses.

Young Gilbert understood earlier than those star actors who became famous at a young age what he really wanted, which was not the hype and praise from the media.

Gilbert knew that as long as he continued to be successful, he would be rewarded with flowers and praise. So he quickly focused on making good movies and continued to make progress.

It can be said that if Gilbert Jr. had not worked hard and studied diligently for many years, but had been lost in the flowers, applause and media hype, he would not have been able to make "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

It was also because he understood this truth that, out of kindness, Little Gilbert invited the crew of "The Mystery of the Talisman" to visit Melon Manor when the crew embarked on a North American promotional tour to give some advice to Bingbing Li and Shu Chang.

"Wow, this place is so big..." Shu Chang, Bingbing and Li Chenglong followed the housekeeper Xingzi to visit the Melon Manor.

This residence, the most coveted residence of Hollywood actresses, covers a large area. It takes more than ten minutes to walk from the gate of the manor to the central area. There is a garden at the back, and outside the garden is a private beach and a pier where yachts are docked.

Bingbing Li also noticed that some places have the feel of Suzhou garden design.

She asked Xingzi: "Have these places been designed by landscape designers from China?"

"Yes," Xingzi nodded and said, "Mr. is very obsessed with Chinese culture and also likes the design of Chinese gardens, so he specially invited a design master from China to design the manor.

These rockeries, bamboos, and garden designs are all from China.”

"I understand," Bingbing Li looked at this place full of classical Chinese charm and for a moment she couldn't tell where she was.

After touring the manor, the group returned to the Chinese-style living room, where little Gilbert had prepared tea for them.

Naomi Watts, as the number one lady of the manor, was naturally there to accompany them, and Anne Hathaway and Scarlett also came to join in the fun.

"This is..." Cheng Long noticed the sheep head on a shelf at a glance: "Is this a sheep head?"

The concept of the twelve zodiac bronze heads has been hyped up in the past two years. In order to recover these bronze heads, China Poly Group has made repeated efforts and recovered several of them, but it also cost a lot.

Little Gilbert shrugged and said, "I got this from Prince Charles. He had another one but unfortunately he didn't give it to me."

"So, are you planning to collect it?" Cheng Long asked.

"To be honest, I don't really appreciate antiques. After all, the value of these things is given by people," said Gilbert Jr.
"I'll keep it here for a few years. I heard that the National Museum of China is collecting cultural relics that have been lost overseas.

When the time comes, I will find an opportunity and make a low-key donation."

Cheng Long laughed and said, "You should donate this in a big way, at least let the Chinese people know about your contribution."

"No," Little Gilbert waved his hand and refused, "Just keep a low profile. I think many people don't want to see this scene."

Cheng Long thought so too. Little Gilbert had a special identity, so some things had to be done in a low-key manner.

Gilbert Jr. then changed the subject and said, "It's the same with you. Although Chinese Kung Fu is popular in Hollywood now, nothing lasts forever.

I don't know if you can survive in Hollywood, it might be difficult.

But I hope you can keep your mind steady and not be complacent. Hollywood can allow people like me to continue to succeed because I am one of them.

But you are different. After all, you are outsiders and will never become the mainstream of Hollywood.

Therefore, keeping a low profile in life and work will benefit you all.”

Little Gilbert's words were a reminder to Bingbing Li. Shu Chang was still young and only understood half of what he said.

Gilbert Jr. then said to Cheng Long: "Old Tian has been asking me before about the future development of Chinese-language films, and I said I don't know much.

But one thing I do know is that having a strong domestic market is the hope for supporting a country's film industry.

There is no such potential anywhere else except China. I am optimistic about the future of this market.

So you Chinese filmmakers have to work hard, because if you don’t occupy the local market, Hollywood films will dominate the world.”

Gilbert Jr.'s words were quite candid, as most Hollywood bigwigs would never say these things to Jackie Chan.

Cheng Long was older and more knowledgeable. He knew that what little Gilbert said was the truth, so he kept it in mind.

During this visit to Cantaloupe Manor, the main creators of "The Mystery of the Talisman" gained a lot, received a lot of advice from Gilbert Jr., and enjoyed an authentic Chinese meal.

Bingbing Li and Shu Chang then realized that it’s not that there is no authentic Chinese food in North America, but that it is all in the Cantaloupe Manor.

This is not surprising. The Chinese chef was specially invited by Gilbert Jr. from China. When he came to the United States to make money, he immediately recruited several chefs with good skills, one of whom was the proud disciple of the state banquet chef.

After earning $1526.5 million on its first day, "The Spell" took in $2230 million on Saturday and $1738.4 million on Sunday. Including the midnight shows, it grossed $5920.9 million in its first week.

This is a very good result. A few years ago, it would have been a first-week box office achievement that only a high-quality commercial film could achieve.

Of course, "The Mystery of the Talisman" is of excellent quality, as can be seen from the average audience score of A-, the film is still very popular.

But nowadays, popular commercial movies often have a box office of 80 to 90 million US dollars in the first week. There are also "The Return of the King" and "Spider-Man" with a box office of over 100 million US dollars in the first week. The box office of "The Mystery of the Spell" is nothing.

The only special thing is that most of the leading actors in this film are Chinese.

But when they saw that the leading actor was Jacky Cheung, the North American media were not surprised. In the past two years, Jacky Cheung has become a top Hollywood action star thanks to the "Rush Hour" series.

It is actually normal that the movies he starred in sold well. Some media even said that the box office results did not meet Jackie Chan's expectations.

Rather than discussing the box office, the North American media is more willing to discuss the plot of "The Mystery of the Talisman" and the performance of a Chinese actor, which is different from their Chinese counterparts.

(End of this chapter)