Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 748: Loss to Grandma's House
As the end of the year approaches, the General Administration holds countless meetings.

It was not until Song Ge returned from the meeting at the General Administration that Gu Wei learned that the format of TV drama broadcasting had been reformed again.

"The theme is one drama, two stars. It will be officially implemented after New Year's Day. I guess the notice will be issued in a few days."

"One drama, two stars?" Gu Wei didn't quite understand what it meant and asked in confusion.

“Well, what it means is that future TV dramas can only be broadcast on two TV stations during prime time.

It is said that this is to balance the composition of satellite TV programs and force film and television companies to improve the production quality and competitiveness of TV dramas. "Song Ge explained.

"Has it been decided?" Gu Wei confirmed again.

"Well, this is the topic of today's meeting, and the higher-ups have already made the decision." Song Ge felt a little annoyed. Sometimes the decisions made by the General Administration on a whim might not necessarily be suitable for the current environment of domestic entertainment.

“This makes it even harder to sell TV series.”

In Gu Wei's opinion, the idea of ​​giving one drama two stars is too idealistic.

For example, now for a TV series, at least four or five TV stations can get the first broadcast rights, and a similar number of TV stations can get the second and third rounds. This also means that everyone shares the purchase cost, which is still within the affordable range for local TV stations.

If the above regulations are followed, a TV series can only be broadcast on two TV stations during prime time, which means that the number of buyers will drop sharply.

But the film company has invested so much and they want to recoup their investment and make a profit, so the producer has to offer a higher selling price per episode, even doubling or quadrupling it.

Ultimately, when TV stations buy dramas, they will definitely have to pay a higher unit price. In order to reduce costs, TV stations will lower prices. If producers cannot make money, how can they improve quality?

“Well, actually what they mean is that the film producers should make the film better, and the TV stations will naturally be willing to bid.

But from the standpoint of the film studio, especially in the Internet age, the more reliable and simpler way to sell TV series well is not to make great efforts to improve the quality of filming, nor to optimize the script and find good actors.

It's about filming what the audience likes, and using which actors have traffic. It's best to add big IPs. This is a simple and profitable way! Because the TV series produced have their own traffic and topics!
In this way, catering to the market becomes the top priority. Themes that are popular with the market will make more money, and those that are not popular with the market will not be able to survive, just like the themes of ancient costume martial arts dramas. "

Song Ge's summary was very precise, and he even took the example of "Jade Knife", which the company had just finished filming. In the past two days, Jiang Xueruo met with many TV station executives to promote this TV series, but the result was still unsatisfactory.

If this regulation is introduced, TV stations will definitely be even less willing to accept this type of work.

This is one of the contradictions in the current domestic entertainment industry. Directors are eager for actors who have good acting skills, are talented, can attract box office revenue, and are not expensive.

But there are almost no actors of this type. Instead, those artists with average acting skills and their own traffic are the most popular now.

In order to make a profit, the producers have to use these people. After using these people, their pay for their works will increase higher and higher.

This goes on and on, as if we're stuck in a vicious circle.

...

Just as Gu Wei and Song Ge finished their conversation, Jiang Xueruo came again.

"Let's play it on the video website." Seeing Jiang Xueruo's expression, Gu Wei had already guessed the result.

"Well, this is the only thing we can do now. I'll go talk to the potato dealer about the price." Jiang Xueruo was like an eggplant hit by frost, and she had lost all her initial energy and spirit.

"Well, as long as we don't lose money, don't ask for too much." Gu Wei nodded.

At this moment, Jiang Xueruo also felt that costume martial arts dramas had almost no future. After a while, she seemed to have made up her mind, "Boss, why don't we put Seven Weapons on hold for now and let Director Liu and Director Wang shoot some works that are in line with the market."

Zhou Yi went against the market in the beginning, which eventually led to bankruptcy. Unexpectedly, now that the more powerful Xingchen Film and Television has taken over, it is still unable to reverse the situation.

Seeing Jiang Xueruo compromise, Gu Wei's reason told him that it was indeed the right thing to do. However, he thought that there were fewer and fewer costume martial arts dramas nowadays. If Xingchen Films did not insist on filming them, it was estimated that in a few years, there would be almost no ancient martial arts dramas on the market.

"We can continue shooting as long as we don't lose money. The premise is that we can't keep shooting this type of film. We can let Director Liu and Director Wang shoot alternately, for example, shoot a modern drama and then shoot a type of weapon." Gu Wei has made up his mind. Anyway, Tudou Video has the guarantee, so there will definitely be no large-scale losses.

"Boss!" At this moment, Jiang Xueruo finally understood why Xingchen Film and Television could become so big and strong. With such a boss leading the way, everyone was full of energy.

"Boss." Jiang Xueruo spoke again, "I can't guarantee that I won't lose money in the future. After all, the pay for films is rising..."

Before Jiang Xueruo finished her words, Gu Wei had already understood that cost increase is a market rule. Take Zhao Liying and Zhou Yi Sanbao for example, their pay has almost doubled in the past few days.

In addition, Gu Wei plans to arrange several people to star in his new movie and intends to train them. If these people perform well, their value will definitely increase afterwards, and the cost will definitely increase at that time.

"It's okay, just increase it, it's still within the controllable range." Gu Wei waved his hand, indicating that it was decided.

"I understand, boss." After hearing Gu Wei's words, Jiang Xueruo immediately adjusted her mentality.

.........

Even with the strong news of Gu Wei and Liu Yifei's marriage, it still couldn't stop the actors and stars in the film and television industry from showing off their movie tickets for "The Crossing: Part 1" and promoting the film.

However, when the reviews for this epic blockbuster came out, many celebrities who recommended the movie were dumbfounded.

“Honestly speaking, I was very disappointed and suffered a lot after watching this movie.

After two hours of acting, they still haven’t boarded the ship! How dare they say it’s the Eastern version of Titanic? "

"It's been six years since Red Cliff was released, and it's proven that director John Woo still can't make big-scale, big-budget films."

"He talks about making epic movies, but John Woo's heart is still with the gunfights and fights in the mean streets. He is totally unable to handle the grand and profound epic and the background of the times!"

"I will never watch the second half of The Crossing again. The first half is so bad, and the second half is also absolutely shitty, no need to think about it!"

""The Wheel" is said to be a war movie, but it is actually a large-scale gun battle movie!"

"Can I get a refund? It's so bad and so expensive!"

"I heard that more than 4 million and nearly 5 million were invested, but it was all in vain!"

"I sincerely suggest everyone, don't buy tickets for "The Taiping Wheel", otherwise you will call yourself a fool! It's too bad!"

"Tsk tsk, what a loss to my grandma!!"

“I look forward to the movies produced by Xingchen Films. At least they won’t be bad movies!!”

That afternoon, word of mouth for "The Crossing" came out, but the result was completely different from what the investors had predicted. Not to mention all the positive reviews, it was hard to even find a few positive reviews.

The situation online is completely one-sided, and almost everyone who has seen the movie is criticizing it.

However, the ones who felt the most uncomfortable were the main creative staff. A few days ago, Zhang Ziyi called on everyone to go to the cinema to support this movie.

Huang Xiaoming also posted several posts on Weibo, calling on fans for support.

But now that the result has come out, no one dares to say anything.

……

4 number.

Just like Gu Wei said before, Han Sanping was confused at this moment.

"2400 million. It's over. It's completely over."

Looking at the reports on the Internet, that headline of 2400 million seems to be mocking me all the time.

At this moment, Han Sanping suddenly felt that the title was so dazzling that he felt like he couldn't breathe. Sina Entertainment: "With a production cost of nearly 5 million yuan, the epic blockbuster "The Crossing" suffered a Waterloo on the first day of its release, with both box office and word of mouth failing."

Souhu Entertainment: "The first day box office of The Crossing (Part 2406) closed at million, far from expectations. With so many negative reviews, the daily box office is likely to continue to decline."

Penguin Entertainment: "The competition for the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival films is fierce. As the highest-invested domestic film, The Crossing is under tremendous pressure to make its money back, and the hope is slim..."

Early in the morning, the Internet was full of reports about "The Taiping".

John Woo, who was once a famous film star in Hong Kong, has been severely criticized.

At this moment, John Woo seemed to have returned to the scene after the release of "Windtalkers", no longer having the vigor and vitality as at the premiere.

"Do I still have a chance?" John Woo murmured to himself.

From the time the media announced the first day's box office to now, in less than half an hour, John Woo received more than a dozen calls.

How to do?
How to remedy it?

Is there any chance?

With all the accusations coming his way, John Woo kept thinking of ways to remedy the situation, but in the face of reality, he felt powerless.

After a long time, John Woo picked up the phone and dialed several numbers in succession.

"It's hopeless. Don't expect investors to spend more money on publicity."

"Give up. It will be a waste of money if you invest more money..."

"This is the last time we work together. There won't be a next time..."

The responses from investors were consistent, and their tone became increasingly harsh.

John Woo slumped down on the sofa, the phone in his hand unconsciously slipped off...

.........

On the Internet, a post titled "Inventory of bad domestic movies" was pinned high.

Originally, "Tiny Times 3", "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" and "The Promise" were at the top, occupying the top three places.

Now that “The Crossing” has been released, it has immediately replaced “The Promise”, and based on its current reputation and box office, it is poised to take the top spot.

Chen Kai, who is currently working on the post-production of "The Taoist Goes Down the Mountain", feels very comfortable, and sighs in his heart: "The new generation pushes the old generation out, and each one is worse than the last."

Seeing her man in such a good mood, Chen Hong couldn't help but say, "This is even worse than The Promise. We invested 400 to 500 million yuan, but only made over 20 million yuan on the first day. It's hard to say whether the final box office can exceed 200 million yuan. It's a big loss."

Only Chen Hong dared to say this. Even so, Director Chen still snorted coldly, "In a few years, everyone will know that The Promise is a good movie."

Director Chen was not the only one who was discussing the post. Seeing this, Jiang Wen said a few words to calm down.

In the eyes of other film producers, the avalanche of reputation of "Taiping Wheel" is a great thing that they are happy to see happen.

Especially Jiang Wen's "One Step Away" has been regarded as the last look forward to among the big-budget Lunar New Year movies.

It is said that due to the former's success, the pre-sales box office of "One Step Away" directly exceeded 1 million, and audiences and movie fans have high hopes.

Director Jiang was also full of confidence, and even boasted in front of the media reporters: "One Step Away will be the best Chinese-language film in the past 20 years. Even Hollywood can't make a movie like this!"

Just after he finished his bold statement, Jiang Wen couldn't help but call Gu Wei and mentioned the premiere of "One Step Away" in a relaxed tone.

"Has the film passed review?"

Everyone in the circle knew that "One Step Away" was stuck in the review of the General Administration, but Jiang Wen was stubborn and refused to delete Wen Zhang's scenes.

"It's all right. I used a lot of connections and finally got it done. Now all that's left is the premiere and the release."

Afterwards, Gu Wei and Jiang Wen made some jokes about "The Crossing".

Suddenly, Gu Wei said, "Will "One Step Away" repeat the mistakes of "The Crossing"?"

"Probably not. The finished film was edited according to your suggestions. I believe in your ability." Jiang Wen was silent for a while and suddenly said.

"Damn you, you're such a son of a bitch." Gu Wei couldn't help but complain in his heart. If you are not sure, just say it was my suggestion. If you are sure, it means you have the ability. He no longer knew what to say to Jiang Wen.

"Let's not even talk about 2 billion or 3 billion, 1 billion box office is no problem."

The box office of several movies released during the Lunar New Year period these days has not been good, and Jiang Wen doesn't dare to make any guarantees at this moment.

"Wanda didn't agree?" Gu Wei was talking about the bet agreement.

"We had originally negotiated for 1.1 or 1.2 billion, but now that The Crossing has come out, Old Ye is only willing to pay 800 million. How can we continue to cooperate for 800 million?"

Speaking of this, Jiang Wen suddenly felt that the box office failure of "The Crossing" was not so good after all. At least it made many film and television companies become cautious.

In Gu Wei's opinion, there is no problem on both sides. The market has been fluctuating over time, and investors should indeed be cautious. Jiang Wen has invested so much in this movie that it is naturally impossible for him to give up too much profit.

“Then let’s release it as normal.”

"I think so too. If we two join forces, there is no way we will fail."

Gu Wei no longer wanted to listen to Jiang Wen. As long as the other party could shoot the movie according to his own ideas, he was confident that "One Step Away" would make at least 1 billion at the box office.

...

After hanging up the phone, before Gu Wei walked downstairs, he heard Miss Liu and Su Chang and others loudly discussing "The Crossing".

From time to time, there were complaints about the new version of "The Return of the Condor Heroes", which was broadcast on the same day as "The Crossing".

The treatment it received was not much different from that of "The Crossing". From casting to styling, there were almost no positive comments.

However, the more netizens complained and criticized the TV series, the higher its ratings became.

After all, everyone wants to see how bad the bad drama that has been complained about by the whole nation is. I have to say, black and red is also red, at least it is much better than "The Crossing".

Seeing Gu Wei coming downstairs, Su Chang was quick to act and immediately took out his phone and shouted, "Brother-in-law, take a look at the comments. Netizens all said that Xiao Long Nu has turned into a "xiao long bao". Haha, I am dying of laughter."

After saying that, Su Chang looked Liu Yifei up and down, and as a result, he got two health balls from her.

"It's a good thing Chen Xiao didn't take on this TV series, otherwise he would have been criticized as well."

I have to say that Su Chang, who just celebrated his birthday, is unusually lively. I heard that he and Chen Xiao met their parents before their birthday. It seems that good things are about to happen.

Liu Yifei was about to say why didn't she thank her brother-in-law when she heard Su Chang continue, "Brother-in-law, when will the drama "The Journey of Flower" be broadcast?"

Well, seeing that he couldn't get a word in, Gu Wei turned his head and said, "Guess?"

"Hahaha."

.........

(End of this chapter)