Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 430 is released, popular, and smeared
The premiere begins

“Thank you all for coming to the premiere of A Quiet Place. Xingchen Entertainment has been exploring genre films since its inception, wanting to explore what kind of film genres are suitable for the domestic market.

So far, we have explored a total of four tracks.

Horror movie track~
Action movie track~
Comedy track~
Science fiction track~
The horror film track is actually a very niche track. Even though the "Darkness Invasion" series has achieved relatively good results, its upper limit is still very limited.

So we are trying to improve and reduce the horror atmosphere. A Quiet Place is a product of this background.

During the film-making process, we paid more attention to creating a tense atmosphere, so I define it as a thriller rather than a horror film.

The action film track is actually a very mature track, but the domestic focus has always been on costume action films.

To this end, we went the other way and made an urban action film, focusing on guns rather than kung fu.

We have been quite successful in this regard and we already have a very mature brand - "Taken".

So far, we are invincible in the field of action movies. At the same time, we have tried to introduce the concept of the universe, hoping to bring you a new experience. "

As soon as Zhang Chen finished speaking, there was thunderous applause from the audience. Zhang Chen had the confidence to say this. "Taken" is currently the number one Chinese-language movie at the box office, and its international influence is also not low. It seems to have created a new genre of action movies.

“The comedy film industry has always been a traditional industry and one of the most competitive. Many big names have established impressive brands.

Just like Stephen Chow's movies, in the field of comedy films, Stephen Chow equals comedy.

We are also trying. We tried "Crazy Stone" before, and the effect was quite good. In the second half of this year, we will also release "Crazy Racing", which is the same type of multi-line narrative + black humor. I believe that Ning Hao's movies will become a golden signboard like Stephen Chow's movies~"

Another round of applause.

"Crazy Stone" is so alternative that no one knows how to evaluate it. It directly set off a trend of black humor. Countless people wanted to learn it, but found that they couldn't.

It is a consensus among everyone that Ning Hao is a rising star.

As long as the new film "Crazy Racing" maintains the same level, Ning Hao's godhood will be established.

Speaking of which, Star Entertainment is really amazing. Compared with other companies, such as New Picture and Huayi, a big director is enough to support a company.

But Xingchen Entertainment has two.

After the applause died down, Zhang Chen continued:

"Everyone knows about the science fiction film track. A super-large-scale investment "Pacific Rim" is currently in preparation and is expected to meet with everyone at the end of next year. In our expectation, this is also a series..."

There was applause from below again.

Zhang Chen waited for the applause to subside before he spoke again: "Actually, what I want to tell you is that among these four tracks, except for the science fiction track, the other three have been proven to be feasible.

Domestic film and television companies can definitely consider focusing on one of these tracks, which will make it easier to produce high-quality products and more likely to succeed...

Everyone can make money in the film and television industry, and only when the industry as a whole develops can we as individuals in it reap the dividends of the industry..."

Zhang Chen selflessly shared his industry experience, and thunderous applause broke out again from the audience.

Regardless of whether Zhang Chen was sincere or had other purposes, at least what he said was useful. Everyone present here is a filmmaker, so it only takes a moment to figure out whether it is useful or not.

"Okay, let's not waste any more time talking, let's watch a movie first..."

It has always been Xingchen Entertainment’s custom to screen the entire film at the premiere.

The lights went out, and China's most awesome dragon appeared, followed by the factory logo.

movie starts

Bingbing and her family walked silently on the road paved with fine sand, and everyone was barefoot.

The next scene is a dilapidated town that looks like the end of the world.

The town looks very American in style, proving that the story takes place abroad.

They walked into the small supermarket and searched for supplies quietly.

The youngest child took a fancy to the toy airplane, but his father refused. However, his deaf-mute sister secretly gave the toy to his younger brother.

The group returned, still walking on the fine sand road, not daring to make any sound.

At the railway bridge entrance, the son at the end was playing with a toy airplane, and the toy suddenly made electronic music.

Everyone was surprised, and then terrified~
The father ran towards his younger son, but the younger son was killed by the monster that arrived first.

At this point, the high-energy beginning ends.

In ten minutes, Zhang Chen finished explaining the background of the story. The earth entered the apocalyptic era, and a monster that hunted by hearing appeared. In order to survive, humans dared not make any sound.

From then on, the movie successfully involved everyone. If some people were talking in a low voice before, from now on, no one dared to make a sound.

The film continues with daily life, as the family searches for supplies and prepares the delivery room for their soon-to-be-born child.

A father repairs a hearing aid for his deaf-mute daughter, but the stubborn daughter blames herself for her brother's death and becomes estranged from her parents.

The mother's injury made a noise that attracted the monster, so she sent out a signal in desperation.

The father and son who returned from searching for supplies saw the signal and knew their mother was in danger.

The father asked his son to go to a distant place to open the mechanism and lure the monster away.

The mother's water suddenly broke and she was about to give birth.

Just as the mother was about to be found by the monster, the noise made by the mechanism lured the monster away.

The father successfully found his wife and took him into an underground shelter.

In the shelter, the wife, who finally relaxed, did not see any other children and urged her husband to go find them.

The father left without noticing that the broken water tank was leaking.

The wife fell into a deep sleep, and when she woke up she found the shelter was flooded. What was even more terrifying was that a monster was moving around in the water of the shelter.

The wife quietly picked up the newborn baby and hid in the water from the monster.

The monster seemed to be aware of something and pressed closer and closer.

The two children outside met up and gathered in the barn as agreed before.

The older son fell into the barn, making just the right noise to rescue his mother.

The good news is that the monster was lured away and the mother is safe.

The bad news is that the monster is heading towards the barn and the eldest son is in danger.

The deaf-mute sister jumped into the barn to save her brother, and the monster then rushed into the barn.

In danger, the same-frequency noise from the hearing aid scares the monster away.

The father found the two children and took them home, but they were attacked by a monster on the way.

In order to attract the monster's attention and give the two children a chance to escape, the father sacrificed himself.

The two children returned home, followed by the monster.

In the basement, the daughter saw her father’s workshop for the first time. It was full of hearing aid parts. She realized for the first time how much her father had done for her behind the scenes.

The rift between father and daughter disappeared, but it was too late, the father had already died.

The monster chased the daughter to the basement, and just as the mother was about to make her fatal blow, her daughter's hearing aid emitted the same frequency noise again.

The daughter noticed that the hearing aid could cause damage to the monster, so she simply used the microphone to amplify the noise.

The monster is almost paralyzed, and at the same time, due to the interference of the noise, the monster's hard outer armor will open, revealing the fragile internal tissues inside.

The mother and daughter discovered the monster's weakness, and the monster made a dying attack, but was shot down by the mother.

The gunshots attracted other monsters, but the mother and daughter were no longer afraid. They found a way to kill the monsters.

Two more gunshots~
Zhang Chen ended the film with a voice-over.

The lights came back on and the hall came alive again.

Many people had an expression of relief on their faces.

After feeling relieved, they looked at each other in surprise.

This movie is so weird. There are almost no dialogues in the whole movie. It feels like watching a silent movie, but it's so tense that it makes people breathless.

If it were abroad, there would definitely be a lot of "Amazing" praise, but in China, people are generally more reserved, everyone just smiles, and then someone starts to applaud, and then more and more people applaud, and the applause is overwhelming~
"Thank you, thank you everyone, it seems everyone is quite satisfied~"

Zhang Chen and a group of main creators were on the stage enjoying the applause.

"You should have noticed that this is a very different kind of film. I made some innovations and was worried that people would not be able to accept them. Now it seems that the effect is quite good..."

Zhang Chen wanted to say something, but seeing the reporters below were impatient, he said, "Okay, you can ask questions now. I see everyone is very anxious..."

The audience burst into laughter.

As soon as he finished speaking, a reporter immediately grabbed the microphone and asked, "Director Zhang Chen, what is the box office estimate for A Quiet Place?"

Zhang Chen did not answer immediately, but smiled and said: "Why not ask our theater managers about this question? I think they have more say..."

Wu Hehu was the representative of the cinema chain managers. The microphone was handed to him. Wu Hehu said, "At the screening, the managers of 35 domestic cinema chains all recognized the quality of A Quiet Place. Our estimate is that it will have no problem breaking million at the box office. Whether it can break million depends on the situation..."

His statement is still too conservative. You don’t need to tell me that Zhang Chen’s movie has grossed over 100 million. Everyone knows that.

It’s not news that Zhang Chen has broken 100 million. It’s news that he has not broken 100 million.

Or breaking 200 million is also fine.

Someone was unwilling to give up and continued to ask: "Director Zhang, what about you? Do you think you can break 200 million?"

Wu Hehu smiled bitterly, and Zhang Chen said with a smile: "I think it is possible to break 200 million, but it may be more difficult. This requires the support of fans and the help of media friends to promote it. Whether there will be a third movie that breaks 200 million in China depends on everyone. I also promise here that if it breaks 200 million, I will make "A Quiet Place" into a series..."

Oh ho~
Reporters love this kind of topic. Who cares if it can break 200 million? When it comes to publicity, you have to brag.
As for Zhang Chen’s promise, it was a pleasant surprise.

Another reporter immediately grabbed the microphone and prepared to ask questions.

Seeing that the scene was basically in order, Zhang Chen ignored it for the time being.

"I want to interview the two leading actors, especially Mr. Jason Statham~"

Jason didn't expect someone to mention him suddenly, and he took the microphone happily.

"Mr. Statham, this seems to be your second time working with Fan Binbin, and both times you played a couple. May I ask if there is really a relationship between you two..."

After listening to the translator's translation, Jason raised the microphone and said with a smile: "Miss Bingbing is a woman I admire very much. Unfortunately, there is no chemistry between us."

哄~
There was a burst of laughter. Jason continued: "Let's talk about the cooperation. In fact, we have cooperated not twice, but three times, "Eden Lake", "A Quiet Place" and "Pacific Rim".

But what I want to say is that in these three dramas, my ending was miserable.

In "Eden Lake", I was her fiancé, who was killed by a group of naughty kids.

In A Quiet Place, I was her husband, who was killed by a monster while trying to save the child.

It was similar in Pacific Rim. She and I were partners, driving the same mecha. I died in the battle with the monster, but she survived.

I was just about to tell the director about this. You can’t always assign me this kind of tasks. I’m so miserable~”

After Jason's words were translated simultaneously, they immediately caused laughter at the scene.

Zhang Chen couldn't help laughing: "Sorry buddy, I will pay attention next time and try my best to let you survive to the end..."

Hahaha~
The crowd burst into laughter again, and Fat Fan laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back.

Someone immediately asked, "I would like to ask Ms. Fan Binbin, how do you think of your performance in this play?"

Fan Xiaopang smiled and replied: "I borrowed Han Han's words, I contributed the best acting skills of my life in this play~"

Fat Fan has never been so confident.

She graduated from the Xie Jin Academy of Performing Arts. She is not a professional and does not have much talent.

My acting skills have been neither good nor bad.

However, after participating in several of Zhang Chen's dramas, she has made obvious progress. In the past, she would not have been able to handle such a role.

Everyone could feel her confidence, and Zhang Chen quickly affirmed: "Binbin is indeed worthy of the phrase 'beautiful and talented' now~"

Actually, Jason just spoiled the content of "Pacific Rim", but it doesn't matter.

In science fiction films, people watch the special effects, so even if the entire story is spoiled, it won’t have any impact.

That night, all major media outlets published reports on the premiere.

"A Quiet Place" premiered with thousands of people~
The male protagonist of "A Quiet Place" complained that every time my character was killed~
Zhang Chen called on film and television companies to typify domestic films~
The premiere of "A Quiet Place" was deserted, and thousands of people watched the movie in silence~
Well, the last one was actually deliberately hyped by Xingchen Entertainment, but it’s not nonsense because no one spoke during the movie.

It is the summer vacation now, and young people have money and free time. In addition, "A Quiet Place" has done enough publicity in the early stage. It is embarrassing, but it is also a film festival, so the topic has long been heated up.

As soon as the movie was released, it immediately sparked a viewing craze.

Zhang Chen's movie, Zhang Chen from Taken~
Although this is not an action movie, the brand has been established, and everyone subconsciously wants to watch any movie starring Zhang Chen.

For a time, there were long queues at cinemas everywhere, tickets were hard to come by in many places, and many cinemas even started selling extra seats.

The situation is similar in North America.

The film was released simultaneously in China and the United States on July 7.

The distributor in the United States is New Line itself, which has opened 2900 theaters, which is definitely a big deal.

Horror films released by independent film companies usually open in more than a thousand theaters, but New Line did not consider "A Quiet Place" as a horror film at all.

What's so scary?

Not scary at all, okay?
Then it is suitable for the whole family to watch, so he dared to release it during the summer vacation.

Generally, only A-level blockbusters or sequels of well-known movies dare to open in more than 3000 theaters. It is unprecedented for a low-budget movie like "A Quiet Place" to open in 2900 theaters.

Soon the first day box office was released:

In China, the first-day box office was 1130 million, which is far from the 1970 million of "Taken". It's still limited by the subject matter.
In North America, the box office on the first day was 1103 million US dollars, which is a very impressive result even in the summer season.

The media rushed to report on it, the popularity continued to rise, and it affected more people.

The popularity of "A Quiet Place" continues to rise instead of fall and it continues to be sought after.

Zhang Chen specifically called Ye Ning of Wanda and said, "Mr. Ye, thank you so much. Wanda's support for us is unparalleled~"

"Haha, Director Zhang, don't be polite. We are also trying to make money. It's a win-win for everyone. I hope Director Zhang will continue to make good movies~"

The reason why Zhang Chen called to express his gratitude was because Wanda’s screening ratio for "A Quiet Place" was unprecedented.

Normally, a theater opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 12 p.m., with each show lasting two hours, so seven movies can be scheduled a day.

Wanda cinema has 7 halls, six of which show "A Quiet Place" seven times a day, leaving only one hall to show other movies.

This support strength~
I guess it's also for Miss Jing's sake~
Zhang Chen has the illusion that he is a gigolo.

The so-called first week is actually the three days of May, June and Day. After these three days, it will be the second week, and the profit sharing ratio will be reduced to 43%.

So in the past two days, Xingchen Entertainment has been promoting the product with all its might.

Zhang Chen took the two leading actors on a roadshow and also wrote a blog specifically for the occasion.

Online publicity is of utmost importance.

The comments tonight were also very interesting -

Zhang Chen is right, those who snore when sleeping are all dead, and the rest are non-snorers~
Please raise a monster like this in every cinema and theater in the country~
When watching it, no one dared to eat popcorn and talk. Only when the protagonist made a loud noise did they dare to grab it and smack it.
I just want to know what to do if you snore while sleeping~
Can someone please pull out that nail for me?
I really want my chatty friends to go and see it~
Whoever speaks will die. This setting is quite powerful and is mainly relied on to advance. The biggest experience is that the audience has to be with the characters in the film and dare not speak out.
This film has created a new style: a family horror film~
It's the setting of "Hold Your Breath"~
There aren't too many horror elements, but the setting is played out in a high-end way. The silent atmosphere on the screen that makes the audience want to scream is so successful~
Audiences in China and the United States were concerned about similar issues. They all complained that no one dared to eat popcorn or talk in the cinema, and that nail~
Zhang Chen doesn't care. It's normal to have both praise and criticism. At least the audience won't think the comments are fake.
The setting of the nails is indeed a bit deliberate, and anyone who pays a little attention to the plot will think this is a flaw.

During the filming, Zhang Chen also thought about whether to make some changes, but later decided to keep the original.

A movie must leave a gap for the audience.

The nail is the groove.

People will criticize it, but it won’t affect the reputation of the movie.

The effect of the publicity was very good. The box office on the first day was just over 50 million, which was not very amazing. On the second day, it increased by 1650% to 1590 million. On the third day, it was 4370 million. The box office in the first weekend reached million.

This box office ranks fourth in history.

The films ahead of him are "Taken" with 7100 million, "House of Flying Daggers" with 5500 million, and "Hero" with 5250 million.
This result is just as Zhang Chen predicted. Breaking 100 million is no problem, but breaking 200 million is a bit risky.

Generally, a movie can earn half or even two-thirds of its box office revenue in the first two weeks after its release.

Starting from the third week, the box office will decline.

In the second week, as expected, "A Quiet Place" continued to lead the pack and the box office continued to rise.

Tickets for popular shows are hard to come by, and even the morning shows are guaranteed to have a 70% attendance rate.

"A Quiet Place" detonates July~
Apart from Star Entertainment, other film companies are the most concerned about the release of this movie.

First of all, they want to know what box office performance a film like "A Quiet Place" can achieve.

Secondly, there is the box office share.

They are all in the same circle. Although Zhang Chen did not deliberately publicize it, everyone knows that Zhang Chen and Zhang Weiping jointly put pressure on theaters.

I also know about the new tiered profit-sharing system that Zhang Chen adopted this time.

Everyone wants to see whether the new tiered profit sharing is higher or lower than before.

……

Huayi Brothers, in the office of the Wang brothers
"Second brother, have you started yet?"

Wang Zhonglei patted his chest confidently: "Don't worry, brother, I notified the publicity department yesterday to start working. In addition, I also contacted the people from Oriental Films~"

Wang Zhongjun was suspicious: "Are they willing to cooperate with us?"

Wang Zhonglei laughed: "Why not? Although our films are released at the same time, they think Zhang Chen is more threatening. We have already agreed to work together to deal with Zhang Chen. As for "The Banquet" and "Dragon Tiger Gate", we will compete fairly and each will rely on his own ability~"

“Haha, well done~”

This was the first time that Wang Zhongjun was so satisfied with his younger brother.

"The Banquet" was released 10 days later than "A Quiet Place". Now three days have passed. The opponent's most ferocious momentum has passed, and Huayi's negative publicity is about to begin.

Soon, a large number of negative reviews appeared on the Internet:

Is stepping on a nail the scariest thing the writers could think of?
90 minutes of plot can be written in three sentences, rubbish~
Humanity is at a critical moment of life and death. Can we put aside our reproductive desires for now?
A tragedy caused by a child~
Do you really think it’s good? Why do I just want to sleep after watching it?

Since mattresses can be soundproof, what have you been doing before?

There is nothing but horror. This movie is simply questioning the intelligence level of human beings~
I really don't understand, why is this fake alien that can be killed by a shotgun rendered as invincible?
To be honest, the details really can't stand scrutiny~
At the same time, in another place, Huang’s father and son were also discussing.

"Ziheng, did the people from Huayi really say that?"

His son Huang Ziheng said: "Yes, they said we should keep targeting A Quiet Place. If A Quiet Place continues to be popular, it will definitely squeeze our screening schedule~"

Wong Pak Ming turned to his daughter and asked, "What do you think?"

Huang Yi also said: "I think that A Quiet Place is indeed our biggest rival at this stage. I have verified with the cinema chains that each company has allocated more than 50% of its first-week screenings for A Quiet Place, and Wanda's is even as high as 80%. If we don't curb it, I'm afraid that when we are released, the cinema chains will not allocate more screenings for us..."

"Where's the shadow?"

Huang Yi shook her head again: "Although "Dragon Tiger Gate" has investment from Shanghai Film Group, "A Quiet Place" also has it. They probably won't give us special treatment~"

Huang Baiming weighed the pros and cons and finally nodded: "Then let's do as they say."

Although he knew Zhang Chen, personal relationships are personal relationships and business is business.

"They have already taken action~" Huang Ziheng found some negative comments online and showed them to Wong Jing.

The latter nodded: "Then we will follow~"

……

At Huayi, Wang Zhonglei is personally in charge of the publicity department, and his subordinates are carrying out organized smear campaigns.

The publicity director came up to report: "The first phase has been completed. We dare not do it too obviously, so we can only find some old accounts to do it, but this way it will be more credible."

Wang Zhonglei nodded: "Has Oriental Film started it yet?"

"Let's do it. They started one day later than us, but~"

Seeing his subordinate hesitate to speak, Wang Zhonglei frowned and said, "If you have something to say, just say it~"

The publicity director said: "I think that just smearing like this won't have much effect..."

Wang Zhonglei smiled complacently: "Of course I know. You don't have to worry about this. I have a backup plan..."

(End of this chapter)