Huayu: The director just wants to save money

Chapter 863 Parasite is released, the goal is to record

Zhou Mo glanced at the caller ID and saw that the caller knew Director Jiaozi.

connected.

"Good afternoon, Director Zhou."

"Good afternoon, Director Yang, are you asking about the movie promotion?"

"Yes, someone from the station sent me a message saying they wanted to interview me. I don't know what to do..."

After just a few words, Zhou Mo already understood the reason behind the matter.

"Don't be nervous. The assistant assigned to you by the company will arrange everything. For the rest, just go to the interview and speak your mind. Say whatever you want to say. The post-production editing will take care of everything."

After hearing what Zhou Mo said, Jiaozi calmed down a lot.

Although he had achieved some success in animation before.

However, this is the first time I have ever experienced a company like Shanhe that spends money like water... no, like a waterfall, like a tsunami.

So he was under a lot of pressure during this period, and often couldn't help but wonder what would happen if the movie flopped.

Fortunately, Zhou Mo's attitude towards him has always been calm. Not only did he not put any pressure on him, but his confidence in the work was even greater than that of him as a director.

"There's one more thing, Director Zhou, when Nezha is released, will you come over?"

"Of course I will. I'm still waiting to witness Nezha create a box office miracle for domestic animated films." Zhou Mo answered extremely quickly.

Jiaozi laughed twice when he heard this.

"Director Zhou is exaggerating. After all, the popularity of Nezha is still not as high as that of Sun Wukong. Considering that the film technology is a few years better, I will be thankful if it can achieve similar results to The Return of the Great Sage. I will be thankful if it can make around 1.5 billion yuan."

From these words, we can tell that Jiaozi is quite confident about the expectations for his own movie, and the first thing he said was the box office champion of domestic animated films.

But it is obvious that he underestimated the potential audience for animated films in the domestic market.

After Zhou Mo hung up the phone, he felt that he was almost sober and went to eat. Not long after he returned to the office, Da Tiantian also came back.

"Are you done so soon?"

"Well, there aren't too many things I need to do. The most important thing is to make an appearance. Director Zhang and Zhang Ziyi will take care of the rest."

"These two are happy to be busy."

As soon as the status of the two was mentioned, Da Tiantian immediately became talkative.

"Director Zhang has been busy with the promotion of the movie during the day and studying the script of "Three Kingdoms" you gave him at night. He only sleeps for a few hours every day, but he is always in good spirits. I heard him talking to his daughter on the phone before. His daughter asked him to take care of his health and get more rest, but Director Zhang said he was not tired at all.

The key point is that I just found out two days ago that Director Zhang has a habit of exercising. He spends at least an hour every day exercising. That’s an hour! Compared to him, I am just a lazy bug.”

Zhou Mo shook his head. Old Zhang was truly extremely energetic.

He had a vague impression that Old Zhang once filmed a video of him briskly walking five kilometers in the snow, and said that he did this every day.

This kind of energy can only be described as a natural talent.

……

Time flies, and it is July in a blink of an eye.

In early July, the premiere of "Parasite" was officially held in Yanjing.

After Zhou Mo finished the reception, he and Da Tiantian prepared to go backstage to take a break. Before he entered the room, he heard a sound from inside the house.

"Sister Ziyi, let's take a break. Aren't Teacher Chen and the others working on the front?"

"No, everyone is working, I can't be lazy here alone."

"Oh my god, you are still playing dumb with me at this time. You don't know what's going on with you. If you go upstairs to get busy today, Brother Feng will call me and scold me later."

"It's okay. She scolded your sister for helping you deal with him, and she also gave you a bonus. Please help me get the shoes."

Zhou Mo and Da Tiantian looked at each other and already knew the situation of the two people in the room.

Half a year ago, Zhang Ziyi participated in the couple observation variety show "Wife's Romantic Travel", which claims to be a "child-giving" show.

Not long after the recording of the show, Zhang got pregnant just as she had hoped on the show.

However, Zhang Ziyi never told anyone else the specific news until a month ago when Wang in leather pants called Zhou Mo and Zhou Mo learned about the situation.

As for the content of the call, it is naturally a special situation and a special period, so please ask the crew to take more care.

Zhou Mo and others had no objection and immediately prepared blessings and gifts.

But Zhang Ziyi herself was not happy about it. She didn't want to sit around doing nothing, and instead insisted on promoting the show with the crew.

After many attempts to persuade her, including by Zhang Yimou, failed, they had no choice but to let her go and reduce her workload as much as possible.

It’s just that today is the premiere of "Parasite", and as usual everyone must participate in the promotion and interviews throughout the whole process. International star Zhang Ziyi didn’t want to stay backstage to rest, so she kept asking to work with other creators.

Da Tiantian pointed inside the room and gave Zhou Mo a look.

How to say?
Zhou Mo spread his hands, looking helpless.

What else can be done?

If you can persuade her, persuade her. If you can't, let her show up. If that doesn't work, let her go to rest early.

"Okay, that's all we can do." Da Tiantian also sighed.

The two pushed the door open and saw Zhang Ziyi talking on the phone with Wang in leather pants.

Pikuwang advised earnestly.

International Zhang listened without paying any attention.

"You need to rest more now. Director Zhang and Director Zhou have already said that there is no problem with the crew's work. Just leave it to them."

"That won't work... Oh, just forget it. I know what to do and I promise there won't be any problems."

Seeing Zhou Mo coming in, Zhang Jie said a few more words to Pikuwang and then hung up the phone.

"Director Zhou, is it about to start?"

"Correct."

"Then I'll go over now."

Zhang Ziyi adjusted her makeup in front of the mirror, then stood up and was about to go out.

Zhou Mo asked her to be patient.

"If you insist on going, I won't stop you, but we have to agree on three rules.

First, have your assistant go with you so that you two can stay together all the time.

Second, after the premiere you have to go backstage and rest.

If you agree to these two things, go backstage. Otherwise, I will have to ask Brother Wang to come and pick you up personally."

Seeing Zhou Mo's firm attitude, Zhang Yimou hesitated for a few seconds and then nodded.

"Okay, I promise you."

Zhou Mo nodded slightly, then turned around and gave instructions to his assistant.

"Just stay with her and contact me if you have any questions."

"Yes! Director Zhou!"

Next to Zhang Ziyi, the assistant looked at Zhou Mo with gratitude.

This girl is too difficult to please. Only you can help her to rest in peace.

Brother, you are my God!
……

Three hours later.

The premiere was over. Zhou Mo had just escaped from the siege of reporters when Da Tiantian came over and handed him a bottle of water.

"Sister Ziyi has gone to rest. Her husband came over and is watching him. He said thank you very much and he will treat our crew to a meal no matter what."

Zhou Mo drank half a bottle of mineral water in one breath, and the heat in his body was relieved a lot.

"Then ask him to go to the restaurant with you in the evening."

At this time, Zhang Yimou had also finished the interview and came over to inquire about the situation.

After Da Tiantian explained everything clearly, the three of them went backstage together.

As soon as I entered the door, I saw Wang in leather pants sitting next to Zhang Ziyi with a smile on his face. The two of them were holding hands and looked very happy.

Hearing the noise, Wang in leather pants stood up immediately.

"Director Zhang, Director Zhou, Miss Jing, this period of time is really troublesome..."

"Teacher Wang, you are too polite. Sister Ziyi is the backbone of the crew. Protecting the backbone is our crew's first priority." Zhou Mo waved his hand politely.

The conversation between the two made Zhang Ziyi very happy. She said to her husband: "See, I told you it's okay. I don't know why you are so scared every day."

Wang Feng turned around with a smile on his face.

"Just think of it as caring about me. When I think about the high intensity of work you still need to do, I can't eat or sleep well."

Zhou Mo raised his eyebrows. He didn't expect that Wang Feng was also a master at coaxing people.

As expected, Zhang Ziyi's slightly frowned brows immediately relaxed a lot after hearing these words.

At this time, Lao Mouzi also joined in the conversation.

"Ziyi, you really should take some rest now. High-intensity work can put a strain on your body even if you rest in time."

After Lao Mouzi, Da Tiantian also gave a few words of advice.

International Zhang looked at everyone and sighed helplessly.

"Okay, I get it. I will pay more attention to my health next time."

Everyone then left and headed to the hotel together.

Halfway through the journey, Da Tiantian asked about expectations for the box office performance of "Parasite".

"It should be pretty good. I saw that the expectations for Parasite on the Internet are quite high. And there are no particularly popular domestic movies right now."

"Can it win the domestic box office championship for art films?" asked Zhang Ziyi.

"That depends on whether you consider 'Dying to Survive' to be an art film."

This question made both Zhang Ziyi and Da Tiantian ponder.

Whether "Dying to Survive" is an art film or a commercial film is a question that has been discussed many times, but there has been no consensus.

A higher proportion of people say that "Dying to Survive" is a commercial film, but it cannot be denied that the artistic content of "Dying to Survive" is indeed higher than that of ordinary commercial films.

Ultimately, the domestic distinction between art films and commercial films stems from the fact that the domestic film market was too small and the variety was scarce in the early years. The two categories could basically cover more than 80% of the films, so the terms "art films" and "commercial films" have been used.

As the market becomes more and more diverse, "art film" and "commercial film" have long ceased to be the classification of movies, but people still call movies by their previous habits.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Ziyi felt that "Dying to Survive" could not be considered an art film.

"To be precise, 'Dying to Survive' should be a realistic film with a more commercial flavor, just like Director Chen's previous films 'Search' and 'Young Man's Journey'."

Da Tiantian also agrees that "Dying to Survive" is a realistic film.

"And your film 'Students' can't be considered as such either. That film is more of a reality film and has a lot of commercial elements."

Zhou Mo said leisurely: "If this is the case, then Parasite does have a chance to break the box office record for domestic art films."

"So, the minimum is ten digits?"

"almost."

"What's the specific guess?"

Zhou Mo turned around and glanced at Lao Mouzi who was sitting in the back seat.

"That depends on how much audiences are attracted by Director Zhang's grand slam box office success. If we want to hit the box office champion, our crew will have to let Director Zhang do more promotion."

Lao Mouzi pointed at Zhou Mo helplessly, smiling brightly.

"I don't like what you said. You are a big director with two crowns, but you are pushing the task to an old man like me. Is that appropriate? Do you feel comfortable with that?"

"Don't worry, your energy is so high that calling you an old man is just bullying us young people. Anyway, I don't have that much energy to finish my work every day and walk five kilometers at a brisk pace."

As soon as Lao Mouzi heard the words "brisk walk for five kilometers", he immediately began to share his own health-preserving methods with the people in the car.

While sharing, he also warned everyone: "You are still young, you must have a good body. The body is the foundation of everything. Only when the physical fitness is good can you do what you want to do..."

Everyone laughed and talked all the way to the hotel.

The next day, after everyone finished the first day of the "Parasite" roadshow, it was already past seven in the evening.

On the way to the hotel, Zhou Mo received a call from the company reporting on the box office.

"Director Zhou, the first day box office is out, 1.2 million."

"Okay, I understand. Thank you for your hard work."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Mo saw from the rearview mirror that all the people in the seats were staring at him.

Even Wang Feng, who was driving, subconsciously glanced at Zhou Mo once, twice, three times...

"No, Brother Feng, don't look at me, look at the road." Zhou Mo was startled and reminded quickly.

Wang Feng reacted and smiled apologetically.

International Chapter couldn't wait and asked:

"Director Zhou, how much is the box office?"

"Two billion."

Da Tiantian silently guessed the data in her mind.

"If it's 1.2 million, then the ten-digit figure is basically a certainty."

"Yes."

Lao Mouzi nodded, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Previously, he broke the box office record for domestic art films with "Coming Home".

But not long after, the record was broken by Zhou Mo, and it suddenly broke into the ten digits.

Now it seems that he has a chance to return to a familiar position.

"Director Zhou, do we have enough funds for publicity? Do we need to add more?"

Zhou Mo smiled and gave Lao Mouzi a reassuring look through the rearview mirror.

"Don't worry, Director Zhang. We have enough money to promote the movie. The number of fans who showed up at our movie show this time is even higher than we expected. With their help in promoting the movie, we might even have some money left over from Parasite."

In the next few days, the situation was exactly as Zhou Mo expected.

The data of "Parasite" in all aspects are very good.

The movie’s opening score on various platforms was around 9.5, heading straight for the historical record.

In the first four days, the box office achieved four consecutive days of growth with a difference of more than 10 million per day.

When "Parasite" was released on the eighth day, the box office in the first seven days exceeded 800 million.

It is a foregone conclusion that the total box office record will be broken.

(End of this chapter)