Chinese Entertainment: Starting from 1996

Chapter 557 Sincerity and Failure

Although "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" may seem boring to most people, female audiences, especially those who are more sentimental, still find it quite good.

Some people even cried when they saw the touching parts.

There are several scenes in this movie that can touch the tears of those sentimental and literary audiences, mainly concentrated in the three plots where Lily, played by Li Bingbing, comforts Xuehua (Quan Zixian) who lost her son, Lily receives the folding fan returned by Xuehua, and Xuehua dies.

This kind of old movie may have a larger audience overseas, but in China, there are far fewer people who appreciate it, and it is even possible that more people may watch the same movie.

After the movie was over, the creators took everyone to a nearby hotel for a banquet.

Liu Zhou declined the invitation and went straight home.

The next day, with the full distribution efforts of Shanghai Film Group and Huayi, "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" also began to be released in domestic theaters. As an art film, it won nearly 15% of the screening rate.

This is not much different from the screening schedule of some commercial blockbusters.

However, no matter how many screenings there are and how fierce the publicity is, it still cannot cover up the fact that the film has been a flop in the country.

The box office grossed over 8 million on the first day and over 23 million in the first week, then dropped sharply to 5 million in the second week.

In this movie, the importance of publicity and promotion is vividly demonstrated.

Although Shanghai Film Group and Huayi are powerful, this is the summer season after all, and blockbusters are released in turns. It is impossible for theaters to always reserve such a high screening schedule for "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan".

The fact that it was able to survive the first two weeks in theaters was already a favor to them, and "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" was indeed unpopular. Even if it continued to be scheduled at a high rate, it would be difficult to get much box office revenue.

The box office revenue for the next week was only 5 million in the entire seven days. The word of mouth about the movie had completely spread, and the box office potential was almost exhausted.

If nothing unexpected happens, the final box office of the movie will be just over 30 million, but it took nearly 70% of the box office in the first four days.

If the investment scale of "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" is based on the 10 million US dollars publicized by the crew, then this movie will be a huge loss.

However, this is a drop in the bucket for Wendy Deng, but this news is not very friendly to Shanghai Film Group and Huayi.

Due to the overly enthusiastic promotion before, the box office performance of "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" is now in such a terrible state. The former has lost face again, and the latter, as it is a listed company, its stock price will be affected.

So before the movie was even released, Ren Zhonglun couldn't wait to contact Golden Harvest to discuss cooperation.

From last year to now, Shanghai Film Group has not produced a movie with good performance, so they can't help but be anxious. Ren Zhonglun also urgently wants to produce a blockbuster movie to reverse the downward trend.

Golden Harvest is of course happy to see Shanghai Film Group's eagerness.

Liu Zhou had already informed Zhang Zhao about the cooperation with them after the premiere, so Zhang Zhao has been considering which project to cooperate with them during this period.

In fact, he had some ideas in his mind and was still a little hesitant. He wanted to discuss it with Liu Zhou, but he didn't expect Ren Zhonglun to come to him so quickly.

This also made Zhang Zhao make up his mind. Since he wanted to win over the Shanghai Film Group, he must not cooperate with them on small projects.

So after careful consideration, Zhang Zhao directly took out the "Heaven's Will" project that Ning Hao was preparing.

Although Golden Harvest has important follow-up arrangements for "The Will of Heaven", it is also Ning Hao's first science fiction film, and its importance to Golden Harvest is self-evident.

However, no one can be sure that Ning Hao's "Heaven's Will" will be successful, not even Liu Zhou.

If it was a project like "Painted Skin 2" and "Mojin: The Lost Legend" that was sure to make money, Zhang Zhao would definitely be reluctant to give it up, but for "The Will of Heaven" he was eager for someone to invest in it.

It’s not that he has no confidence in Ning Hao, but he doesn’t have much confidence in Liu Zhou’s ability to create a superhero universe. Of course, he would love to have someone share the financial pressure.

However, even if there is cooperation, it will definitely be limited to film cooperation, and Golden Harvest will not give up any other copyrights.

If Liu Zhou's plan succeeds, it will involve huge profits, and Jiahe is not willing to share it with others.

Eating alone like this will definitely cause dissatisfaction among others, but this is something that Golden Harvest created itself, and if it really insists on doing so, Golden Harvest can withstand the pressure from all sides.

Even if they want to win over the two state-owned film companies, they only need to win over China Film Group and Shanghai Film Group. Then, they can give up some of their investment shares in the film. I think they will be very willing to stand with Golden Harvest.

This is a bit too far away. Now we don’t even know whether "Heaven's Will" can be successful.

However, Ning Hao is now also a well-known director in China. His first science fiction movie also had a big gimmick. In addition, it was produced by Golden Harvest. As long as the movie is not too bad, it should not flop. It is just a matter of how much money he makes.

And seeing that Ning Hao spent so much time and effort preparing, the movie shouldn't be too bad.

Therefore, this movie has a high probability of being successful. Cooperating with Shanghai Film Group can also reflect Golden Harvest's sincerity and also provide an incentive for Shanghai Film Group.

After all, "The Providence of God" may be successful, but subsequent film plans may not necessarily be successful. With the success of "The Providence of God", they can't help but be tempted to invest in subsequent films.

Sure enough, Ren Zhonglun was immediately delighted after seeing the "Tian Yi" project proposed by Golden Harvest.

In fact, people in the circle have long known that Ning Hao had studied in Hollywood for more than a year and came back to prepare to start producing science fiction films.

At present, the popularity of science fiction movies in China is very high. Ning Hao is not an unknown person. He went to Hollywood to study in order to be able to make good movies.

As long as this news gets out, it will definitely attract a lot of viewers.

In fact, Shanghai Film Group did arrange for people to go to Hollywood to study through Golden Harvest, but the investment in science fiction films is not small, and they still do not have the courage to launch science fiction projects.

If the project fails, you will definitely be criticized.

Now that Golden Harvest is willing to cooperate with Ning Hao's project, he is even more surprised. Not only can he make some money, but he can also let Shanghai Film Group learn from Golden Harvest's experience in making science fiction films. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

That’s right, in Ren Zhonglun’s opinion, "The Will of Heaven" is definitely a project that is sure to make money. With Golden Harvest, Film Group, Ning Hao and a strong star lineup, he can’t imagine how the movie can fail.

Unless they are trying to make money in the name of movies, but it is obvious that Golden Harvest has a good reputation and its brand value is so high, how could they possibly make a lot of money at the expense of their reputation?

Besides, Liu Zhou is not short of money, and the Shanghai Film Group is even more so. They are now continuing to make good movies to restore their reputation.

Therefore, Ren Zhonglun really felt that Liu Zhou was generous and thoughtful when Golden Harvest was willing to collaborate with Shanghai Film Group on Ning Hao's science fiction project.

He was not a fool and understood that the other party did this not because he was shameless.

He was not unaware of some rumors in the industry, but as a state-owned company, this did not conflict with them much, after all, they did not only make money by making movies. So since Golden Harvest, as the largest giant in the industry, was willing to take the initiative to show goodwill to the Shanghai Film Group, they were of course willing to stand on the side of Golden Harvest.

After all, they are full of sincerity and you can reap enough benefits by cooperating with them. Haven’t you seen that China Film and Golden Harvest have maintained long-term cooperation and made a lot of money?

Therefore, Zhang Zhao and Ren Zhonglun had a very pleasant conversation afterwards. However, because Ning Hao had just completed the script, the shooting plan and budget had not yet been worked out, the specific details of the cooperation had not yet been formally finalized.

However, the framework of cooperation between the two parties has been finalized, and the "Tian Yi" project can be officially launched in August at the latest.

There is no impenetrable wall in the world. The slightest disturbance will soon be known to everyone in the circle.

Ren Zhonglun had just returned to Shanghai when all the major film and television companies learned that Golden Harvest and Shanghai Film Group would collaborate on Ning Hao's new film. Those with a little more financial strength knew the details clearly.

This immediately made some people feel uneasy. For example, Han Shanping directly asked Liu Zhou whether he could bring China Film Group into the game.

Since the other party had asked personally, Liu Zhou certainly couldn't refuse, so he agreed directly and asked him to arrange someone to talk to Zhang Zhao in detail.

After all, China Film Group is a close partner of Golden Harvest. China Film Group provided a lot of help to Golden Harvest in its current development. Moreover, China Film Group is also a shareholder of Golden Harvest.

So it was difficult for Liu Zhou to refuse both morally and logically, and having one more investor wouldn't have much of an impact anyway.

It would be a bit inappropriate to cooperate with Shanghai Film Group without involving China Film Group, after all, the relationship with China Film Group is closer.

Moreover, "Tian Yi" plays the role of the opening. With the participation of China Film, the influence of this movie can be further spread.

Compared with subsequent plans, the box office revenue of the movie seems less important.

In fact, in addition to China Film, there are other film and television companies that want to get a piece of the pie, and some of them have even come to Liu Zhou.

But Liu Zhou was not so polite to these people and companies and rejected them directly. Their joining would not provide much help except sharing the money.

There was nothing they could do when they saw this. They didn't dare to get angry. They were powerless against Golden Harvest, let alone China Film and Shanghai Film. Moreover, they were in a situation where they had no choice but to give it a try.

So now Ning Hao's movie has become a project jointly invested by the three major film groups: Golden Harvest, China Film Group, and Shanghai Film Group.

By this time, the film project "Tian Yi" was already well-known in the circle.

This has caused quite a stir among the artist community. With the film being operated by these three major groups and Ning Hao, a famous domestic director, this is bound to be a highly anticipated project.

If you can join this project, there will definitely be many benefits, which makes the entertainment industry become somewhat undercurrent.

In fact, in addition to Ning Hao's project, there is another project in the circle that is also attracting much attention, that is the "Private Customization" that Huayi has just officially announced.

The combination of Feng Pants and Ge You, the signature Feng-style comedy.

Although Feng Kuzi is not as famous as his contemporaries in the original time and space, he is also a famous director in China, and his Feng-style comedies also have a large number of fans.

The official announcement of "Private Customization" has indeed attracted a lot of attention.

In fact, Feng Kuzi is still polishing the script, but there is no way that the failure of "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" has had a certain impact on Huayi's stock price.

The stock price, which had been rising, has stagnated and even fluctuated during this period.

So Wang Zhongjun had to come up with good news to eliminate the negative impact.

Currently, Huayi’s biggest and most effective card is Feng Kuzi’s film project, so even though he is not ready yet, Wang Zhongjun can’t worry about it for the time being and will wait until the official announcement is made.

What's more, as soon as this news was announced, Huayi's stock price really started to rise again.

In fact, given the current popularity of the domestic film market, Huayi’s stock price will also rise again after fluctuating for a period of time.

The next few years will be a period of general surge in film and television stocks. Unless there is very significant negative news, stock prices will rise with the overall market.

However, both films are still in the preparation and project establishment stage. After causing a certain amount of stir, the focus of the entertainment industry is still on summer movies.

As time enters July, the competition for the summer movie season becomes increasingly fierce, and domestic films also begin to join the battle on a large scale.

Although there are Hollywood blockbusters released in July, the summer vacation season is only two months long, and domestic films cannot avoid the battle forever.

But the truth is cruel: domestic films are still far behind Hollywood blockbusters.

Many movies became cannon fodder, and the only one that was worth mentioning was the comedy movie "The God of Wealth Inn" produced by Bona and directed by Wang Jing, which earned 1.2 million yuan at the box office.

Wang Jing is quite good at making these comedy films, although they don’t have a good reputation.

Although Hollywood blockbusters are not as fierce as in May and June, their performance is generally better than that of domestic films.

The Hollywood animated film "Zootopia" earned nearly 7000 million in box office revenue in seven days after its release. It may be difficult for the film to reach a final box office of 1.5 million, but it should not be a problem to break million.

In fact, in early July, another highly anticipated domestic blockbuster was released, and it was also the only two domestic blockbusters in July.

It is the martial arts movie "Wu Xia" directed by Chen Kexin and starring Zhen Zidan, Jin Chengwu and Tang Wei.

This is also the movie where a straw hat had to be imported and cost hundreds of dollars, and it was also the movie that made Lao Chen tearfully propose a villa.

However, this movie, which brought together two superstars, Donnie Yen and Kim Sung-woo, and cost more than 200 million yuan, turned out to be a disappointing success.

The box office took in 80 million in the first week, which was a pretty good result. However, the box office was halved in the second week, with only over 40 million in seven days, and just over 20 million in the third week. It was impossible for the final box office to exceed 200 million.

I originally thought that "Wuxia" could save some face for domestic films, but I didn't expect it to be another dud, and the film's reputation was also very bad, and it was criticized by many netizens.

To be honest, this movie is not as good as Wang Jing's "The God of Wealth Inn". At least watching "The God of Wealth Inn" can make everyone laugh, while watching "Wuxia" will only make yourself upset.

But no one was too lazy to criticize it, because a week after "Wu Xia" was released, "Transformers 3" was officially released on a large scale.

As soon as the movie hit the theaters, it took over the box office like a bomb.

(End of this chapter)