Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 796 The premiere is about to start

“It is reported that the film is jointly produced by Legendary Pictures, Universal Pictures, China Film Group and LeTV, directed by Zhang Yimou, and starred by Matt Damon, Li Binbin, Han Dongjun, Jing Tian, ​​Chen Xiao, Liao Fan, Zhang Hanyu, William Dafoe and others.

The Sino-US co-production "The Great Wall", with an investment of up to 1.5 million US dollars, has officially started shooting at the Huairou Film and Television Base.

"Lost and Love, produced by Huayi and starring Andy Lau, Jing Boran and Tony Leung Ka Fai, was officially released yesterday. It took in 3700 million yuan at the box office on the first day and was well received by the audience."

The launch of "The Great Wall" has attracted the attention of many journalists in the industry to "The Battle of Nantianmen".

Early in the morning, dozens of reporters gathered at the entrance of Wanda Film and Television Base, much more than before.

Gu Wei, Ning Hao and Lu Yang drove to the door together. As soon as they got out of the car, they were surrounded by reporters.

Six Princesses, Sohu, Sina...

Almost all the major domestic media were present, and there were quite a few foreign faces in the crowd. It seems that there are just as many people paying attention to Gu Wei's new movie as those paying attention to Zhang Yimou's.

"Director Gu, what is the current training progress of "The Battle of Nan Tianmen"? When is the expected start date?"

After thinking for a moment, Gu Wei smiled and said, "Everything is going well at the moment. We may start filming ahead of schedule. For the specific time, you can follow the official Weibo account of Xingchen Films. We will notify you in advance."

"Director Gu, Director Gu, the domestic premiere of Frozen 2 will be held in a few days. Will there be any Hollywood guests attending?"

"Haha, the scale of the domestic premiere is not particularly large. No Hollywood guests have been invited yet, but several dubbing members will be there."

After answering several questions in succession, Gu Wei was "escorted" by security personnel into the base.

"Look at how popular our director Gu is. Reporters only have eyes for him, and the two of us are like air." Ning Hao, who failed to get an interview, joked directly.

"It's not easy to become popular. If you run naked now, I guarantee you'll be on the headlines tomorrow."

"Hahaha."

As soon as these words were spoken, Lu Yang next to him burst into laughter and immediately urged Ning Hao to try it.

"Fuck you, if I really run around naked, Xing Aina will probably divorce me when I get home." Ning Hao cursed with a smile.

A few of them chatted and laughed, and walked directly towards the base.

As for why Ning Hao and Lu Yang came here, one reason was to broaden their horizons.

Secondly, I planned to watch and learn. After all, the mainland market is developing very well at present, and shooting special effects blockbusters has naturally become the idea of ​​every director.

In particular, Gu Wei has become a big name in Hollywood with his special effects blockbusters. In addition, big directors such as Zhang Yimou and Jiang Wen have joined the ranks of shooting special effects blockbusters, which has led to a wave of special effects movies in the circle. Its popularity is no less than the "Tokyo fever" that was very popular on the Internet back then.

If everyone in the past had a martial arts dream in their hearts, then directors in the circle all have a dream of making special effects blockbusters.

However, due to limitations in funding, strength, fame and other issues, not many directors have the opportunity to get involved in special effects movies, and most people can only watch with envy.

"Tsk, tsk, what a grand scene."

Since entering the base, Ning Hao has been chattering non-stop, as if he were Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden, and everything he saw was dazzling.

"Are you jealous?" Gu Wei looked at him with a smile.

“A little bit, but I thought it was weird to not have a real-life reference to shoot with.”

“Haha, what Brother Hao said is just like when old people come into contact with new things: curious but also afraid,” Lu Yang joked.

Hearing this, Gu Wei smiled and shook his head. After thinking about it carefully, it was true.

Several people walked in while talking. In the huge base, there were not many people at the moment, including the corresponding staff, as well as most of the extras and supporting roles who were still moving in one after another.

"Director Gu, wait for me."

Just as he finished speaking, Jiang Wen suddenly appeared from behind, which really scared everyone.

"Jiang, Director Jiang, why are you here?" Lu Yang asked in surprise.

"It's normal for me to come here. We are preparing for "The Wandering Earth 2" and I came to see the venue. But how did you two find time to come here?" Jiang Wen joked with a smile.

"The Wandering Earth 2" has been confirmed to be handed over to Jiang Wen. For a movie with such a huge investment, the early preparations are complicated, but looking at his leisurely look, it is obvious that he is not nervous at all.

"Come over and learn from Director Gu how to shoot a special effects blockbuster. Haha, let's go in and take a look." Ning Hao continued.

"Same, let's learn from Director Gu today."

To be honest, from the time he first had the idea of ​​making a special effects movie to now when he got the right to direct "The Wandering Earth 2", it is impossible for Jiang Wen to say that he has no pressure.

After all, special effects movies are not low in technology, and for directors of the previous generation like Jiang Wen, many aspects of them are new attempts.

In addition, this kind of thing requires an investment of hundreds of millions, so if something goes wrong, the loss will be huge.

Gu Wei naturally guessed what the other party was thinking, otherwise he would not have considered coming to the Wanda base to shoot, "Let's set the shooting location here. There is also a smaller studio over there, more than 3,000 square meters, which is enough. You can come and watch it when you have nothing to do."

"Hey, Director Gu is right. Several investors also mean the same thing. I, Old Jiang, am not the kind of person who puts on airs all the time. If there is anything I don't understand, I will have to trouble you." In front of several people, Jiang Wen did not put on airs. If you don't understand, you don't understand. It's troublesome to pretend to know when you don't.

"Tsk tsk, Director Jiang is so aware that other directors would be ashamed if they saw it." Ning Hao started again.

"Go to hell, come on, go in and see the big scene."

The four chatted and laughed for a while, then walked towards the training site.

The training site covers an area of ​​more than 5,000 square meters. The huge studio is bustling with people. Some staff members have joined the instructors and celebrity artists. Looking around, there are no less than two or three hundred people.

"The director is here."

"Hello, Director Jiang."

"Director Ning, Director Lu."

When they saw Gu Wei and others coming in, they greeted them one after another.

The entire studio is divided into several areas, and training is one of them, which occupies the smallest area.

Next to the training area are several huge green cloths, surrounded by densely packed machines.

Not far from here, some action directors are designing movements, and a dozen people wearing auxiliary equipment are testing the equipment. There are many people but it is not messy, and everyone has his or her own job to be responsible for.

"There are really a lot of people." Ning Hao sighed.

"Look at those equipments. They must cost a lot of money." Jiang Wen stared at the large number of machines and pondered.

"Currently, there are less than half of the people who have joined the team. If we include those responsible for special effects production, there are more than 1,300 people in total," Gu Wei explained.

"Wow, so many people?" Lu Yang exclaimed.

Seeing the other party's useless look, Jiang Wen crossed his arms and said, "A lot? You haven't seen the filming of "Hero" and "Red Cliff". There were thousands of people in each of them."

Perhaps considering this statement incomplete, Jiang Wen continued: "However, ancient war scenes rely on large numbers of people, which is not the same concept as science fiction war scenes."

"stand at attention."

"Take a break."

The slogan sounded, attracting the attention of several people. Gu Wei, Jiang Wen, Ning Hao, and Lu Yang slowly approached the training area.

The training for "The Battle of Nantianmen" is divided into two groups. The men's team is headed by Leonardo DiCaprio, Denzel Washington, Zhao Wenzhuo, and Qin Hao. The training volume is twice as large as that of the women's team, and the requirements for military posture and combat skills are higher.

Seeing the director coming over, none of the dozens of people at the scene left the group and stepped forward to say hello.

On the women's team side, Liu Yifei led the team, including Megan Fox, Emma Stone, Su Chang and a dozen others, to stand at attention and receive training from the instructors.

"it is good."

"Fuck." Jiang Wen's loud voice scared Gu Wei, and he muttered to himself.

"I read reports online before, saying that Director Gu is very well-known in Hollywood. I came here today and I finally saw it. No matter how big a Hollywood star is, they dare not make an exception in front of you."

Jiang Wen exclaimed sincerely, he himself was like a dominant presence on the set, but he was used to talking to mainland artists on weekdays, and suddenly saw that these international superstars also had to obey Gu Wei's arrangements, he was moved.

Gu Wei was too lazy to pay attention to this guy. He walked up to Liu Yifei and raised his eyebrows when no one was paying attention, almost making the young lady laugh.

Finally, under the threat of Miss Liu's eyes, Gu Wei left with a smile on his face.

The training on weekdays is divided into morning and afternoon, two hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon. After all, they are star artists, and the instructors also know how to proceed step by step. It is impossible for them to train themselves to death.

It was almost noon when Gong Li arrived.

"Teacher Gong, everyone is over there, let's go and meet them." The training happened to be over at this moment, and Gu Wei pointed to the area and said.

"Okay, Director Gu, you don't have to call me Teacher Gong, just call me by my name." Gong Li has been in Hollywood for many years and is well aware of their filming habits there. Being constantly called "teacher" can easily create a gap between her and others. What she needs most at this moment is to quickly integrate into the group.

"Okay, then I'll call you Sister Li."

"Haha, it's my honor to be called sister by the director."

The two of them came in front of the crowd chatting and laughing. At this moment, almost everyone was present except for the four veteran actors who made guest appearances: Li Xuejian, Chen Daoming, Chen Baoguo, and Feng Yuanzheng, as well as the friendly guest appearances: Cheng Long, Li Lianjie, Liu Dehua, and Tony Leung.

"Hey, Gu." After the training, Leonardo instantly became lively.

"director."

“Pa pa pa.” Gu Wei clapped his hands and waited until everyone looked over. “Everyone, let me introduce a new member to you.”

"This is Gong Li, I believe everyone is familiar with her. In the next period of time, Sister Li will train with everyone..."

After Gong Li said a few words, Liu Yifei couldn't wait to stride over to say hello. Together with Su Chang, Tong Liya and Zhao Liying, the originally quiet scene was brought to life again.

By the evening, with the arrival of Gong Li, and the presence of Jiang Wen, Ning Hao, and Lu Yang, everyone naturally gathered together.

Before dinner was over, the footage of dozens of people coming in and out was posted online by the media.

"My goodness, Director Gu's life is really enviable."

"Xixi finally got her wish and worked with her idol, Ms. Gong Li."

"Please start filming now. I can't wait to go to the cinema to support it."

.........

March is coming to an end.

"The Great Wall" entered a closed filming phase after filming began, and it was said that even interviews and visits to the set were not allowed.

Hollywood imported films "Cinderella" and "Big Hero 6" continued to perform steadily, taking in most of the box office in the mainland market.

Among the domestic films, only Lost and Love performed well, earning 2 million yuan in box office in three days. The remaining dozen or so films still could not escape the result of being beaten. The preparations for the premiere of Frozen are also coming to an end, and the venue is at the Wangfujing branch of Dadi Cinema, a subsidiary of Xingchen Films.

In the past few years since acquiring Dadi Cinema Line, Gu Wei has invested a large amount of money in upgrading and renovating equipment, and accordingly, he has also been actively opening new stores.

Liu Yifei and Gu Wei are already preparing for the premiere of "Frozen 2".

Especially Liu Yifei, she is the voice actor of the heroine of this movie. On the day of the premiere, she will stand on the stage with other members of the crew. There will definitely be a lot of necessary interviews, and she will most likely be the main target of media reporters.

"Xixi, wife, are you ready?" Gu Wei, who had been waiting for a long time, couldn't help but shout upstairs.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Are you going to die?" This was the response I got.

"Haha." Su Chang, who had put on makeup and changed into a dress, laughed, but the only person she got was a roll of the eyes from Gu Wei.

After waiting for more than an hour, just when Gu Wei was about to fall asleep, Miss Liu finally came down from the second floor.

After walking around Gu Wei and receiving two words of praise, Miss Liu and Gu Wei blinked. At this moment, she really grasped the posture to the extreme, which was really fascinating.

After checking the time, Liu Yifei said proudly, "Let's go."

Outside, many media outlets focused their attention on the premiere of "Frozen 2".

The reason is that this movie is so popular all over the world. After more than a month of release, the cumulative box office has exceeded 600 million US dollars. At this rate, it is very likely to break the world box office record for animated films.

Coupled with the film's rave reviews, domestic audiences are all eagerly waiting for its release.

At the premiere, the invited guests have arrived one after another.

"Look, Leonardo and Denzel are here."

"Didn't Director Gu say in the interview that he didn't invite any Hollywood guests?"

"They can't be considered guests. It should be because the crew of "Nantianmen" is on holiday, otherwise they wouldn't have the time to come."

"Holiday? If you hadn't told me, I would have thought the crew had disbanded?" a reporter muttered.

This wave of people is really too complete, led by Leonardo, Denzel, Megan Fox, and Emma Stone.

Zhao Wenzhuo, Huang Xiaoming, Qin Hao, Hu Ge, Huang Haibo and others also arrived.

In addition to Tong Liya, Zhao Liying, Chen Minghao, Jiao Enjun, Yuan Quan, Chen Long and others.

The premiere of "Frozen 2" is about to become the premiere of "Battle of Nantianmen".

As Gu Wei's deputy, Wu Jing came over to help welcome and see off the guests when he was almost ready. Guo Qilin was also with him, and from time to time he helped him introduce some people.

Speaking of which, there were quite a few big names from the Hong Kong circle who came to support him today.

"Sammo Hung, Liu Chenwei, Wilson Yip, Simon Yam, Gillian Chung, Yuen Biao..."

Reporters pressed their shutter buttons to record this moment.

"Hey, have you noticed that Hong Kong artists seem to appear more and more frequently at the premieres and press conferences of movies produced and invested by Star Films recently?" A reporter discovered a clue.

"Everyone knows that Director Gu is now a big name in the domestic entertainment industry. It's normal for him to come and show his support." After saying this, the reporter gave a thumbs up, the meaning of which was self-evident.

In the venue, a large number of celebrity guests arrived, making the scene lively.

The group of people from Hong Kong Island gathered together, and there were also many people around Leonardo and Denzel.

The representative from China Film Group is Han Sanping, who is currently speaking at the moment. After all, the film is distributed by China Film Group.

In addition, the "Battle of Nantianmen" strongly promoted by Han Sanping is about to start, and Comrade Han is in high spirits again.

"Director Han, there is a high probability that Frozen 2 will break billion at the global box office. I wonder if Director Gu's new movie can create another miracle after it is released. This is also the first special effects war blockbuster in China. The Internet is full of discussions about this now."

"Haha, I have no say on the expected box office. When Gu Wei comes, you can ask him."

As they were talking, Gu Wei pulled Liu Yifei, followed by Su Chang, and the group arrived at the venue.

Seeing the real host had arrived, Wang Chen and the theater manager were the first to greet him.

"Boss, there are more guests than expected, so the premiere may be delayed."

"What's going on?" Gu Wei frowned.

"A lot of people have come from Hong Kong Island, so the prepared screening room may not have enough seats." Wang Chen winked, and Gu Wei immediately saw the group of Hong Kong filmmakers not far away.

Seeing Gu Wei's gaze, Hong Jinbao and others in the lead smiled and nodded.

"How late?" To be honest, it was beyond Gu Wei's expectation that so many people from Hong Kong Island would come. After all, there was not much in-depth cooperation between the two sides.

"The largest screening room will be available in half an hour at most," the cinema manager said immediately.

"Okay, let's extend the interview time."

Anyone who comes is a guest, and Gu Wei can't just chase them away.

"Director Gu, long time no see."

"Hello, Director Gu..."

Seeing Wang Chen leave, many Hong Kong filmmakers and artists came to say hello to Gu Wei and Liu Yifei, and he accepted them all.

Now that the Hong Kong film industry is in decline, these Hong Kong film makers and artists also understand that the market is on the mainland.

The two sides chatted for a while, Liu Yifei left to prepare for the interview, and Gu Wei was also pulled over by Han Sanping and Wang Changtian.

"Director Gu, the filming location for The Wandering Earth 2 has been decided. Old Ye has gotten a great deal again this time."

On the sofa, Wang Changtian started teasing Ye Ning.

"Lao Wang, that's not right. What do you mean I'm taking advantage? Ask Director Gu. Wanda always charges the lowest rent."

"It's better to build a film and television base, sit back and collect money, wait for the right opportunity, and try the light."

Gu Wei smiled. It turned out that Guangxian had become very wealthy recently after receiving investment.

"Mr. Wang, please wait for the photography base. Is the funding for the two films ready?"

"Of course, Director Gu, as soon as you start, the money will be credited immediately." Wang Changtian waved his hand proudly, no longer suffering from the embarrassment of fund shortage in the past.

As we were talking, the interview had already begun on the stage.

The reporters' questions and the responses from Liu Yifei and the people present were all as conventional as usual.

About half an hour later, Liu Yifei returned to Gu Wei, and everyone moved to the screening room, where the movie officially began...

.........

The reason why "Frozen 2" has become popular all over the world is that in addition to its story content that is not old-fashioned, the pictures it presents are the most attractive.

If we say that the first "Frozen" released a few years ago took advantage of major advances in ice and snow simulation.

Then "Frozen 2" represents a significant improvement in current special effects technology.

The big screen lights up, and a beautiful picture slowly unfolds.

This opening alone caused a lot of discussion among the crowd.

"It's incredible that the scene of running in the waves can be made like this." Han Sanping felt a little emotional. He has experienced the development stage of domestic animated films, and now seeing this scene, he feels uncomfortable. The gap seems to be getting bigger and bigger.

"Disney is indeed very strong. The production of this scene required waves of a certain height and frequency, and used a combination of simulation and procedural ocean surface," explained Gu Wei.

Perhaps seeing what Han Sanping was thinking, Gu Wei thought for a moment and then continued, "'Swallowed Star 2' is in production. Some of the technology is not inferior to that of Disney. When this animated film comes out, our domestic animation field will enter a new stage."

"Can it be achieved?"

“Yes, some places are even better.”

"Only Xingchen Films has this capability. The future depends on you."

"Haha, no one can predict the future, but in the next few years, Xingchen Films will invest a lot of money in producing animated films, so we can slowly accumulate some experience."

Gu Wei naturally understands the development of domestic entertainment. It can be said that in a few years, when the black swan event breaks out, he plans to take a break and focus on animated films.

The many copyrights purchased by the company will be able to show their effectiveness at that time.

...

Two hours passed quickly, but "Frozen 2" has left a deep impression on everyone.

Are you kidding? The subsequent additional funds alone are enough to make a special effects blockbuster. If this effect cannot be achieved, Disney can just forget about it.

The screen went dark and applause broke out.

It was almost 12 noon when the premiere of "Frozen 2" came to an end.

Lunch time, that is, the social and entertainment session, officially begins.

As the organizer and investor, Gu Wei and Liu Yifei split into two groups.

Gu Wei is in charge of these bigwigs from Hong Kong and the Mainland, while Liu Yifei is responsible for dealing with the celebrity artists who come to show their support.

The lunch lasted until after two in the afternoon. Needless to say, the news of the premiere of "Frozen 2" instantly made headlines.

The data in the title, "Global box office exceeds 600 million US dollars", made a number of mainland companies stare in amazement.

Time goes by...

The filming of "The Great Wall" went smoothly. Gu Wei went there several times and offered some suggestions.

The early preparations for "Mojin: The Lost Legend" are underway. Song Ge is in charge of this part and is also responsible for the bet with Ali Pictures.

At the same time, the training for "The Battle of Nantianmen" was gradually coming to an end, and Gu Wei began to get busy.

I spend the whole day going between Xingchen Film and Television and Wanda Base, and from time to time I also have to participate in special effects design and production.

As matters concerning "The Ferryman" were finalized one by one, domestic entertainment suddenly became more lively.

.........

(End of this chapter)