Entering the Chinese entertainment industry is like entering a deep sea

Chapter 732: Let’s set a small goal: 20 billion
Mainland box office pre-sales are encouraging, and North American data is equally eye-catching.

As soon as China Film announced the pre-sale data of "Vientiane Island", the share prices of several film and television stocks rose, and Huayi was no exception.

Whether it is the four producers, the bureau, or several domestic listed film and television companies, they all urgently hope that Li Chen will release the North American pre-sale data simultaneously.

Especially Wang Changtian, the pre-sale box office in the mainland alone caused the share price of Guangxian to rise by 4 percentage points.

Li Chen called Tim, and as soon as the data from Hollywood was released, "Hero", which had dominated the charts for many years, finally gave way.

Hollywood Daily Reporter

"The pre-sale box office of "Vientiane Island" in North America exceeded 3500 million US dollars! The Chinese communities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles contributed more than 50%!"

"Chinese audiences strongly support the oriental monster blockbuster, and AMC theaters urgently added midnight screenings."

July 2014, 7, San Francisco

"As of today, the North American pre-sale box office of Rongchen Pictures' epic blockbuster "Vientiane Island" has soared to 3530 million US dollars!"

"Among them, pre-sale box office in cities with large Chinese populations such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York accounted for as much as 53%, becoming the core engine driving this historic achievement."

"AMC Cinemas has announced that it will add special early morning shows in the Chinese area to meet the hot ticket demand."

Sina Entertainment News

Reprinted from Variety News

"AMC Theater in Chinatown, San Francisco Bay Area, set a record of $2.2M in pre-sale for non-English films!"

"There was a hundred-meter-long queue in front of the ticket window of AMC San Gabriel in Los Angeles, most of them were Chinese families."

"All early morning screenings at New York's Flushing Cinema are sold out."

"The Chinese Students Association of Columbia University booked three theaters to host the premiere academic salon."

"Many ticket buyers said they wanted to bring their children to see China's own monster."

"The pre-sale of a single theater of "The Island of Vientiane" in San Francisco is 4% higher than that of "Transformers 60"!"

The pre-sale box office was promising, and the two wedding news caught Li Chen and Liu Yifei off guard.

One was Zhou Xun’s charity Easter egg wedding last night.

Liu Yifei really couldn't understand why Mr. Zhou treated his marriage so frivolously.

So, I called Zhou Xun early in the morning.

"Brother Xun, you are too individualistic, aren't you? No wonder you asked me if I would attend the charity gala in Hangzhou the other day."

Liu Yifei really didn't know how to describe it. It was too sudden and too dramatic.

Other people’s charity gala became your and Gao Shengyuan’s wedding.

Zhou Xun smiled and said, "There's nothing I can do. Your Director Li doesn't like my husband, so this is the only way."

Liu Yifei didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Don't make excuses. He is just hard on the outside but soft on the inside. He had already prepared your wedding gift a long time ago, but you showed up without any prior notice!"

Liu Yifei was calling Zhou Xun, and Li Chen also received a call from Charlize Theron.

Charlize Theron called Li Chen and, in addition to congratulating him on the booming pre-sales of "Island of the Gods", it turned out that she was getting married soon and invited Li Chen to attend her and Sean Penn's wedding in South Africa.

Li Chen agreed readily. It seemed like it was just wishful thinking for a goddess to marry a playboy.

He remembered that Theron only had ex-boyfriends, not ex-husbands or husbands.

"Have you really decided to go to South Africa?" Liu Yifei hung up the phone with Zhou Xun. She was even more surprised to hear that her husband had agreed to let Charlize Theron go to South Africa.

My husband is too busy to attend the weddings of my good friends in China.

A foreign Oscar-winning actress got married, and her husband agreed so readily.

This is totally out of his style, not to mention that both of them have full schedules in the second half of the year.

"Of course." Li Chen smiled, got up and went upstairs.

Liu Yifei stared at her husband's back for a few seconds and suddenly laughed: "I don't believe you!"

At midnight the next day, "Vientiane Island" was first released in China. Due to the time difference, it was relatively delayed in Europe, the United States and other places.

The biggest difference from "Transformers 4" is that the 3D version of "Vientiane Island" was released simultaneously in China.

The 4D version of "Transformers 3" will have to be released separately later, otherwise this pile of scrap metal would have broken the record of "The Richest Tomato" by now.

Since the morning, posting ticket stubs on Weibo seemed to spread like a virus.

Wang Zhonglei was in a terrible mood because his son and nephew also went to watch the midnight show last night!

"This bastard is trying to mislead the people!"

"It seems that if you don't watch his movie 'Vientiane Island' you are not a Chinese, right? I won't watch it!" Wang Zhonglei cursed.

The wife was unwilling: "Okay, okay, our son just went to bed!"

"Book two tickets!" Wang Zhonglei's face suddenly changed.

My wife seemed frightened and didn’t react for a moment. Didn’t I just tell her not to watch it?
Wang Zhonglei couldn't hold back his shame: "I only bought the ticket! I didn't watch it! After buying it, take a picture with your son's ticket stub and I'll post it on Weibo!"

-

Li Chen was really dumbfounded when Wang Zhonglei posted the ticket stub of his family photo, but he soon understood what was going on.

This guy posted his ticket stub and received a lot of positive reviews.

What Mr. Wang has is a broad-minded person who can tolerate others, Mr. Wang is generous, and Mr. Wang has a broad perspective.

Li Chen really wanted to open a small account like Zhang Ziyi and post: Bullshit!

Liu Yifei got up very early. She doesn’t care how high the box office is now, because she is already the highest.

She cares more about the first round of word of mouth.

Fortunately, the word of mouth is still online, and more than 70% of the audience comments are positive.

"When I watched King Kong before, I thought: Wow, the Americans are awesome! Now I think: That's it? Can that gorilla withstand a paw from a panda?"

"Leo did two things in his film 'Island of the Vientiane'. First, he made the monsters in the Classic of Mountains and Seas speak Chinese, unlike the film 'The Forbidden Kingdom' where the Jade Emperor spoke English! Second, he used the Chinese people's peace-loving kindness to express their national treasure, the panda. We never like war, but we are never afraid of war either!"

"The heroine Sissi has too few scenes. Leo wants to kneel on the washboard!"

"This is a fucking monster movie! You thought it was Twilight!"

On this day, many people were concerned about how much the first-day box office of "Vientiane Island" would achieve.

At 18:2 a.m. on the 17th, the neon lights in Beijing had not yet gone out, and Conference Room No. 1 of Rongchen Pictures was still brightly lit.

In front of the floor-to-ceiling window, Wu Bin loosened his dark blue tie. The projector behind him kept refreshing the domestic box office data. The scarlet numbers were beating on the snow-white wall like blood vessels.

Whether Zhizhen's painting skills can make a successful debut depends on this one move.

"Mr. Wu, the data is out, 2.85 million on the first day!" Chief Financial Officer Zhao Li's voice trembled.

Wu Bin nodded slightly, picked up his phone and sent a WeChat message to Li Chen: "Director Li, 2.85 million on the first day."

At 4:40 in the morning, this number dominated the headlines on Weibo's hot searches.

So much so that when everyone in the circle stood up the next day, they were a little bit in disbelief, and thought that the decimal point was wrong.

The box office revenue in just one day surpassed the total box office revenue of Zhang Yimou’s “Hero” that year.

-

In the Avengers conference room at Paramount's headquarters in Hollywood, President Gray's actions were exactly the same as Wu Bin's, both loosened their tie.

Bain, the head of the China region, slammed the folder on the desk and said, "AMC has given 80% of its IMAX theaters to the damn Chinese panda! Our 3D version will have to be postponed in China."

Before he could finish his words, CEO Gray suddenly smashed the coffee cup in his hand: "Shut up! Do you understand Chinese people? Do you understand China? You idiot, learn how to use chopsticks first before you complain to me!"

Another white bald executive interrupted and laughed: "Bain, I suggest you read China's "Rural Teachers", which can help you quickly understand China's national conditions."

"Don't think that Chinese people are stupid and have a lot of money. If you push them too hard, they will turn the table over." -

In China, the entire film and television industry was stunned by the figure of 2.85 million.

Although the eight major cinema chains have long lost two percentage points of box office share to Li Chen, for a film like "Vientiane Island", they are willing to lose even if you let them lose until they are old.

On the second day, the screening rate of "Vientiane Island" increased directly from 68% on the first day to 85%. Wanda Cinemas was even more exaggerated, leaving only 5% for "Transformers 4", "The Good Wife" and "No. 81 Beijing".

In the early morning of the 19th, the North American first-day box office was released, with a total of 4150 million US dollars in the first-day box office in 4615 theaters.

"The Island of Vientiane" has a freshness rating of 68% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is pretty acceptable.

But it is much better than the 4% of "Transformers 15", which is also reflected in the difference in box office.

Variety, Los Angeles Times, and New York Times gave the film "passing scores" of 75-65 points respectively, while film media represented by The Hollywood Reporter and Warp gave ambiguous scores of around 60 points.

As a result, there is no doubt that the box office will exceed 100 million US dollars in the first weekend.

The second day in China was Saturday, and the box office soared to 3.5 million yuan, and on the third day it was still 3.3 million yuan.

It broke 1 million US dollars in the first weekend in China, reaching a terrifying 9.65 million yuan.

The first-day, single-day and fastest records of Transformers 4 breaking 123456789 billion are all now a thing of the past.

Han Sanping called, and his tone was completely free of the dejection that had been caused by the bloodshed in "Transformers 4".

He laughed heartily and said, "When will the second one come out?"

Li Chen was speechless. He called early on Monday morning just for "idiot"!
"I definitely don't have time this year. I'll have to wait at least one or two years."

"That won't do! If you can't spare the time, give it to Wu Bin. I think he can do the job! We finally have a Chinese-language movie that can make us proud in other people's territory. Don't be so lazy! I'm telling you, the higher-ups are very satisfied with 'Vientiane Island'!"

Han Saping deliberately emphasized the last three words.

Li Chen was surprised and asked, "Is it because of cultural output?"

Han Sanping paused and said, "Let me be frank with you. You have got the pulse of the higher-ups right. Pandas are not only a national treasure, but also a symbol of peace. A movie can represent the image of a country. You have gone down in history!"

Li Chen understood and nodded, "You are right, Director Han, the special effects Wu Bin has been following the whole process, I think it will be okay for him to shoot the second part."

"That's right! I heard that you will be a guest at Sina's live broadcast room today?"

"Yes."

"Let me remind you, you are in the limelight right now, don't get carried away."

"Don't worry, Director Han, keep a low profile, keep a low profile, I understand."

Han Saping hung up the phone with satisfaction, but that afternoon, he was so angry that he laughed at Li Chen.

This kid needs to keep a low profile, even sows are climbing trees.

After the call with Han Sanping, La Peikang, Wang Changtian, Ren Zhonglun, Yu Dong, Zhang Zhao, and even Wang Zhonglei called.

Li Chen thought to himself that he was indeed a scoundrel who wanted to get on the "Vientiane Island" train just by showing off his ticket stub.

With Wang Zhonglei’s imagination, it’s a pity that he didn’t become a screenwriter.

Liu Yifei carefully tied her husband's tie, slowly and gently, and then put on his suit.

The smile on Li Chen's face was uglier than crying.

"Can we change the color, Sissi?"

"Why?" Liu Yifei was immediately unhappy, and her eyes narrowed: "I chose it for you, and you dare to change the color? I think you want to rebel.

"Have you seen Young and Dangerous 2? I think I'm even more stupid than Chen Haonan! This burgundy color is the same as your heirloom down jacket. Please let me go!"

Liu Xiaoli, who was listening, turned her head away and tried to hold back her laughter.

Liu Yifei also had a big smile on her face: "We are husband and wife, of course we have to be in sync, I ordered this especially for you, dear, this is it, don't change it!"

"Mom!" Li Chen called out to his mother-in-law affectionately.
-

In Sina's live broadcast room, as soon as Li Chen appeared in a suit that made him look so handsome that his hair fell out, he was flooded with comments from netizens.

"If this suit wasn't chosen by a fairy, I would eat shit on live broadcast!"

"+1"

"+1"

The host also satisfied the wishes of netizens, and the first question was about Li Chen's outfit today.

Li Chen could only reply: "See through it but don't say it!"

The live broadcast room suddenly became lively, and the number of people online exceeded one million in less than an hour.

Li Chen basically answers all questions from netizens.

It made netizens enthusiastic and excited.

At the end, the host seemed to be infected and became excited.

"Mr. Li, 'Vientiane Island' earned over 3 million in the first three days of its release, breaking the record for domestic films! What do you think the final box office will be?"

Li Chen suddenly remembered the famous saying of the boss Wang Weilai. He took a sip of the teacup and smiled: "Let's set a small goal first: 20 billion."

The host opened his eyes wide with a smile, no one doubted the 2 billion now, but the small goal was too hurtful.

Who the hell can achieve this? Maybe Jiang Wen’s “One Step Away” has a chance.

The barrage of comments in the live broadcast room exploded instantly, and the number of real-time online users soared from 200 million to 500 million.

"Isn't this small goal a bit too big? The total box office of Transformers 4 is only 17 billion!"

Li Chen calmly put down his teacup: "That's why I said it was a small goal. If I can't even break the Hollywood record, what's the point of filming "Vientiane Island"?"

The live broadcast room was flooded with gift special effects, and the Panda God of War’s emoticons instantly dominated the comment area.

Soon, the top two trending searches on Weibo were dominated by Li Chen.

#Li Chen's small goal# (explosive) #20 billion is just a small goal# (explosive)

Netizens worship him crazily.

"Other people's dream is to have a box office of over 20 million, but Leo's goal is billion!"

"Leo is clearly stating a fact, but why do I feel that what he said is so damn arrogant!"

"This small goal is not very harmful, but it is extremely insulting!"

"Leo's goal is so damn domineering! If it were someone else, I'd give him a thousand-year-old boy's piss!"

Liu Yifei watched the entire live broadcast at home.

WeChat kept popping up, and Liu Yifei was giggling.

Shu Chang: "My brother has set such a high goal that no one can catch up with him!"

Yang Mi: "Dear Liu Qianqian, my small goal is to have a total box office of over 20 billion in my lifetime. Please tell my senior for me."

Deng Chao and Sun Li were also watching the live broadcast and saw Li Chen calmly mention the 20 billion small goal.

Deng Chao spit out his food: "Oh my god! I give up!"

Sun Li laughed: "Don't be discouraged, Brother Chao, you are only three copies of "Breakup Master" away from Mr. Li's goal!"

Sina Entertainment News

"On July 2014, 7, Li Chen, chairman of Rongchen Pictures, was a guest at Sina Live and talked with netizens about the grand occasion of the box office of "Vientiane Island" exceeding 21 million in the first weekend of its release."

"When the host asked about his expectations for the total box office, Li Chen casually said: Let's set a small goal first: 20 billion. This instantly ignited the entire Internet and became another phenomenal topic after the movie itself."

(End of this chapter)