Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 453 About Chief Jia

"Here is a VCR~"

As Lu Yu finished speaking, the program began playing on the big screen.

These are all behind-the-scenes footage. Jing Tian stood up from the water, soaking wet. The staff next to her immediately handed her a towel.
And he was shivering from the cold, his lips were blue~
There were only a few shots, and applause broke out from the audience.

Jing Tian felt a little embarrassed by the applause, but fortunately Lu Yu changed the subject.

Lu Yu shook her bangs and said with a smile: "It is said that the cost of this play is 50 million?"

“Yes, it’s much higher than The Shallows, mainly because I used a big Hollywood director this time, and his salary is much higher than my salary back then, and the special effects this time are also much more than The Shallows.

When I was filming The Shallows, I had only one thought: it must not be like Jaws.

When Spielberg was filming "Jaws", due to the limitations of the technology of that era, there couldn't be too many shots of the great white shark. Watching it now, it feels like a deliberate attempt to be mysterious.

So when I was filming "The Shallows", I deliberately added a lot of close-up shots of sharks, and there was also a shot of a shark swimming through the waves, which became a classic.

Then for "Crocodile Storm", I asked for more special effects shots and more realistic special effects, so the cost was much higher. "

After Zhang Chen finished speaking, applause broke out again from the audience.

Lu Yu smiled and said, "You make us all look forward to it. Haha, we actually have a VCR on site. Do you want to watch it~"

When the answer was "yes", a clip from "Crocodile Storm" appeared on the big screen.

Jing Tian enters the resort house~
Jing Tian looked out the door of the basement, calling for her mother~
Found Xu Qing unconscious~
Hearing the noise behind him, Jing Tian turned around, and the residual light of lightning illuminated the basement and the crocodile~
The crocodile attacks Jing Tian~
In the darkness, the screen of the lost mobile phone lit up, and someone was calling. The next second, the huge body of the crocodile passed by the phone and the phone was crushed to pieces.
Heavy rain poured into the basement, Jing Tian struggled in the water~
Found crocodile eggs~
In the narrow pipe, Jing Tian quietly moved forward. At the mouth of the pipe, a crocodile swam by.
Jing Tian was wandering around the window with a flashlight. A dark shadow swam past the window. When she shone the flashlight over, she found it was a crocodile. The crocodile broke through the glass.
From the overhead shot, Jing Tian was trapped in the shower room of the bathroom, while the crocodile was wandering outside. The crocodile made a U-turn and crashed into the thin glass door of the shower room. Just before it broke, the picture suddenly went black and the title of the film appeared - "Crocodile Storm".

The audience was so delighted by the show that even though it was only a minute and a half long, they still couldn't stop watching.

It looks good, really good, some people are so nervous that their palms are sweating~
In fact, this is the second trailer, but it’s only shown for the first time.

Compared to the first one, the second trailer is longer and reveals more information. People can already guess part of the plot from the trailer.

“Isn’t the trailer intriguing?”

"Yes."

"Will you go to the cinema to show your support?"

"Yes~"

Seeing the audience’s genuine reactions, Zhang Chen and Jing Tian bowed again.

"A Date with Luyu" is broadcast on Sundays, and "Crocodile Storm" was scheduled for the day after tomorrow, but news about the recording broke out the next day.

The people who broke the news should be a guest at the scene, perhaps those from "Zhang Chen Bar", because they praised him a bit too much.

[Products by Zhang Chen must be top quality~]

[Just by watching the trailer, you can tell that the special effects are much better than "The Shallows"~]

[Zhang Chen personally admitted that the special effects shots of "Crocodile Storm" far surpass those of "The Shallows"]

[The heroine Jing Tian is so beautiful. I find that I seem to be fascinated by her. What should I do? ]

The publicity and promotion team of Xingchen Entertainment also cooperated and released the second trailer to further stabilize the popularity.

……

Nortel, Auditorium
An advance screening of "Crocodile Storm".

This is also a form of propaganda.

The auditorium was packed.

After the movie was over, there was a short interaction as usual.

Usually at this time, students would raise their own questions, some about the performance, some about behind the scenes, and Zhang Chen would patiently answer them one by one.

This is a privilege exclusive to Nortel.

"Brother, how was the flood scene in the movie filmed?"

"Brother, why do you use cold colors when shooting? Is there any special meaning?"

The questions students ask are generally very specific and closely related to the movie.

"Director Zhang Chen, at this year's Venice Film Festival, Director Jia's film "Still Life" won the highest Golden Lion Award. What do you think of this?"

Suddenly, a discordant voice appeared.

In previous questions, students usually addressed Zhang Chen as "senior brother" or "brother", which is a tradition and seems more intimate.

Only this student called him director, and seemed not to agree with Zhang Chen's identity as a Beijing Film Academy student.

And his questions were unfriendly.

The other students looked towards this person.

Zhang Chen frowned. He didn't know this student, but it was obvious that the other party had some opinions about him.

But he didn't want to find out the reason. He was not RMB, and it was impossible for everyone to like him.

He frowned and said perfunctorily: "I don't have any opinion. Whether he gets the gold lion or the silver lion has nothing to do with me."

The other party froze there.

"Okay, does anyone have any questions? If not, that's all for today."

Zhang Chen didn't want to make things too awkward in his alma mater, and he was also a little unhappy with the school. Up to now, no teacher had come up to maintain order.

Zhang Chen was ready to finish.

The teacher in charge of maintaining order in the school finally showed up at this time and tried to keep them.

"I am Professor Huang Shixian's student~"

The other party suddenly said.

Zhang Chen stopped walking. It turned out to be the student with the yellow solid line. No wonder~
Huang Shixian had previously had a verbal battle with Zhang Chen over the dispute between art films and commercial films.

In addition, there were Liu Xiaoshuai and Section Chief Jia who came to support him...

Now he probably thinks that it’s great that “The Good Man of Three Gorges” won an award, and he wants to embarrass Zhang Chen.

"Yesterday, Jia Xuechang publicly announced that "Still Life" will compete for this year's Lunar New Year box office, competing with "Painted Skin" and "Curse of the Golden Flower". He wants to use practical actions to tell you that art films are not completely useless..."

The other party spoke passionately, as if he felt he had the upper hand, with a glimmer of pride in his eyes.

Zhang Chen didn't even bother to look at him.

"If he really dares to join the Lunar New Year movie, then I admire him as a man, but he also has to be prepared for the movie to flop, so he doesn't cry when the box office is not ideal~"

Zhang Chen's ridicule made the students at the scene laugh, but it also made the student angry.

"Why do you say that?"

“Because “Still Life” is an art film.

Don’t you know how the box office of art films has always been?

Just take the films released in the past two years, Green Tea made 400 million yuan at the box office, and Jade Guanyin made 500 million yuan at the box office;
"Kekexili" also cost 500 million, and "Qinghong" is similar to "Still Life". It won the Cannes Palme d'Or. How much was the box office?
370 million!
What does this prove? It proves that art films have no box office appeal at all.

An art film is so arrogant that it wants to compete with commercial films, and compete for the box office during the Lunar New Year holiday. Is your senior Jia crazy?
Listen to what others say about art films:

It looks ordinary and boring, but it is actually boring and ordinary~
He really thinks winning the Venice Golden Lion is a big deal. Does he have some misunderstanding about the Lunar New Year box office?

There are so many film and television companies in the country, and they shoot so many films every year. How many of them dare to be released during the Lunar New Year holiday?
I don't know if it's the case for other companies, but our Xingchen Entertainment has scheduled a movie for the Lunar New Year, which is the most powerful movie in the company, just like the mastiff in Nine Dogs and One Mastiff~
Do you still think "Still Life" has a chance of winning after I put it this way? "

Zhang Chen interrupted the other party and made him speechless. He scanned the audience and said, "To put it bluntly, it is you, Professor Huang behind you, Section Chief Jia and others who think that art films are the mainstream~
I don't want to argue with you about this. We will know which one is better when the result comes.

I'm just saying this, any art film that dares to compete in the Lunar New Year box office is like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, the box office will definitely not be good, even if Jesus comes he can't save you, this is what I say~"

Zhang Chen’s domineering declaration was deeply imprinted in the minds of every teacher and student present at that moment.

He knew that "Still Life" won the Venice Golden Lion, but he had never heard that "Still Life" would compete for the Lunar New Year box office.

But judging from the other party's confident look, it should be true.

How dare he~
Really floating~
In my impression, Chief Jia is a very pragmatic person.

In Zhang Chen's opinion, Chief Jia, who is from a coal-mining province, is actually quite capable. He is one of the few people who has mastered the art film industry.

In Zhang Chen’s previous life, there was a saying in society that Zhang Yimou made money at the box office, and Section Chief Jia made foreign exchange.

What I mean is that Chief Jia knows how to make money.

While others were still pursuing art, Chief Jia already knew how to make money with art.

The investment for "Still Life in Three Gorges" was only 600 million, but the copyright income alone exceeded 3000 million. His previous "Xiao Wu" also made a lot of money...

Chief Jia is a film businessman who knows how to make money.

Why can his art films sell for a good price, but others can't?
Because he is tied to Kitano Takeshi Studio and has a close relationship with MK2.

Takeshi Kitano is a direct descendant of Venice.

MK2 is the third largest cinema chain in France, mainly showing art films, and can compete directly with the Big Three.

In the original time and space, the copyright of "The Good Man of Three Gorges" was sold to 75 countries, with copyright revenue reaching 400 million US dollars.

And chickens sell particularly well in Gaul.

20 people watched the film, with a total box office of over 100 million euros. The film ranked ninth in the French box office in its first week and remained in the top ten of the French film box office rankings for three consecutive weeks.

Because his films sold well in Gallican, Chief Jia highly praised Gallican and had said many words praising Gallican.

Especially the Gallic film market!
He once said enviously that 40% of cinemas in Gallicus are art cinemas, with a total number of 1000. The country supports art films and there are subsidies for showing art films.

This is the greatest respect for art.

He also called on the country to learn from France's successful experience and promote art films.

If you are so envious, why not immigrate to France!
Then, there is no more!
The country is not stupid!
The things these people shoot have no positive effect on the development of the domestic film industry, but have a negative effect on the promotion of the international image. Only a country would be stupid to promote them.

And even if you do the economics, it's impossible.

The cost of land acquisition is so high nowadays. How can you build an art cinema with such a high cost?

How to get your money back?

How to make profit?

Chief Jia and those sixth generation people didn't consider this at all.

Then they jumped out and said that the cinema chains deliberately suppressed art films and did not schedule them. This is not a lie, because the cinema chains really do not want to schedule them.

Serious art films are not easy to sell!
Not only during the Lunar New Year period, sales are difficult during any period!

Moreover, these people who make art films have a lot of criminal records and are all registered with the authorities. Large companies with state-owned backgrounds such as China Film Group Corporation and Shanghai Film Group Corporation are simply unwilling to help with the distribution.

As a small company, it doesn’t have much strength, so the number of theaters it can negotiate with is of course limited.

In the original time and space, Section Chief Jia probably thought that it was awesome that "The Good Man of Three Gorges" won the award.

High-spirited~
It was so stubborn that it was released on the same day as "Curse of the Golden Flower", and Jia even said shamelessly: Even if I can't win, I want everyone to know that China has more than just one kind of movie!
You know you can't win!
In the end, the total box office of "Curse of the Golden Flower" was 3 million yuan, and that of "Still Life" was 30 yuan, a difference of 100 times.

The sixth generation headed by Chief Jia was taught a lesson, and since then no art film has dared to compete in the Lunar New Year box office.

In fact, people like Chief Jia are not the kind of people who make movies honestly. Before entering the WTO, they were basically banned.

It was not until the symposium in 03 that these people were officially recognized.

That symposium had a very famous name back then - Seven Independent Film Gentlemen Jointly Wrote a Letter to the Film Bureau.

The reason was that China was about to join the WTO, and the import film quota was increased from 1994 films per year in 10 to 20 films per year.

At that time, a group of people shouted "wolf is coming" ~
Indeed, I can’t beat him.

In 1995, the total annual box office in China was only 6 million, but the box office of the movie "True Lies" reached 1.02 million;

The 3.6 ​​million box office of "Titanic" is still the Chinese box office champion;

In order to resist the impact of Hollywood movies and enhance the competitiveness of domestic films, the country decided to allow those directors who had won awards but were restless in the past to become regular employees.

They wishfully thought that they would be able to perform well after being converted to regular employees, but they were slapped in the face by the facts.

An art film is an art film, and it’s not going to do well at the box office.

Chief Jia is already considered the most capable among these people. At least his movies can make money. Although the money is from abroad, it is still money.

Therefore, Lao Jia is a golden signboard in the field of art films. He has low costs, fast shooting, and can make money. Everyone loves to work with him.

Maybe it's because of this, as he won another award this time, which was the highlight of his life, that he became so proud and clamored to compete in the Lunar New Year box office.

Could someone come and give me some advice, please?

Don't let him live in a dream!

It is ridiculous that an art film chooses to compete head-on with commercial blockbusters during the Lunar New Year period.
In the original time and space, it was Zhang Yimou who taught him a lesson.

In this life, Zhang Chen doesn't mind being replaced by himself.

Zhang Chen was very unhappy about the early preview of the film at Beijing Film Academy this time.

In the past, no matter what happened, his alma mater basically stood on his side.

But there is a dispute between art films and commercial films. Professor Huang is also from Beijing Film Academy, and Beijing Film Academy itself is also moving in this direction. As a result, many people do not support him and think that Zhang Chen is too radical.

It’s true that commercial films focus on box office performance, but we can’t simply dismiss art films.

Zhang Chen knew that it was difficult to change his mindset.

Especially in the past two years.

In the past two years, Venice has been very fond of Chinese films. Last year it was Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain", this year it is Director Jia's "Still Life", and next year it will be "Lust, Caution".

This can be regarded as the last glory of Chinese literary and artistic films.

Soon after, Venice abandoned Chinese filmmakers.

Mark Muller once said that Chinese filmmakers have not made much progress in the past ten years. Their techniques and narratives are still the same as they were ten years ago.

That’s why Venice no longer awards prizes to China.

……

On September 9, "Crocodile Storm" was officially released without any premiere.

The box office on the first day was 1130 million, which is considered a good performance for a movie.

According to the formula that the first day's box office is generally one-tenth of the total box office, the final box office of "Crocodile Storm" should be able to exceed 100 million.

Jing Tian was extremely excited. Was he going to become famous soon?
Lu Zheng was also very pleased, it seemed that this cooperation with Zhang Chen was right.

The attendance rate on the first day directly determines the screening schedule for the following days. I believe that each theater chain should increase the screening schedule.

As for Wanda, it has always given the maximum screening schedule.

Except for the necessary screenings, all other screenings were given to "Crocodile Storm".

Despite good results on the first day, the promotion cannot stop.

After that is the roadshow, which is very tiring. It is impossible for Zhang Chen to follow it, so he has to leave it to Jing Tian and Xu Qing.

The two women turned into flying people, traveling to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Chengdu and Hangzhou, not one of them could be missing...

The publicity and promotion departments gathered together for a meeting:
“The feedback we received from the audience was very good:

[The director knows when to make people scream and when to make people hold their breath~]

[This is a film that is not boring at all. I saw many people rushing to the bathroom after the movie ended~]

[The director is a ruthless person, the protagonist was tortured terribly, it made me terrified! ]

[A very good thriller, full of immersion, holding your breath the whole time and not daring to speak~]

[As a disaster film, the director not only combines the bad weather and the blood of crocodiles very well, but also handles the horror and suspense very well. This battle between man and crocodile is very interesting, simple but not simple~]

[The movie was full of tension. I knew the next second would be terrifying, but I didn't know how it would happen. The crocodile was cold-blooded and violent, and its bites were real. I felt like I was there, and I felt pain even through the screen~]

[When I saw people in the middle, I saw hope, but the hope was fleeting. There were also biting scenes, but it didn’t feel bloody or violent, only a sense of tension and oppression~]

[First is the tangible and intangible medium of "water". When the total amount of water exceeds the range that humans can control, the loneliness and helplessness it brings are more terrifying than any other medium, especially when there are some more uncontrollable beasts under the water. The second is the crocodiles under the water. In fact, just like many beast horror movies, crocodiles are more about infinitely testing the fear in people's hearts~]

Of course, there are also negative reviews:
[Crocodiles are the most powerful chewers in the world, with a bite force of up to 4500 pounds, four times that of a lion and 4 times that of a human. Even a turtle with a hard shell cannot escape a crocodile's big mouth. Once it finds its prey, it will first bite it, then roll its body in the water, creating a deadly torque that tears the prey into pieces. The heroine in the film relied on her "protagonist halo" to be bitten by the crocodile many times and still have all her limbs intact, which is completely impossible in reality.]

Overall, the reputation is good."

“The market response to ‘Crocodile Storm’ is good, and after investigation, we found that the proportion of fans of ‘Taken’ among the first wave of audiences is not high. These people seem to be still waiting and watching, so I suggest increasing the publicity budget~”

“How much?”

"Add another 500 million to the original base~"

"can."

Zhang Chen waved his hand and agreed to the propaganda department's request.

The original publicity budget for "Crocodile Storm" was 1000 million. Now that the development trend is good, it is reasonable to increase the budget by 500 million.

What's more, this movie won't make a penny at the box office, and all the profits will belong to Star Entertainment.

……

At the same time, a meeting was also being held within Huayi.

The oval conference table was filled with people, including all of Huayi's senior executives, as well as Cheng Long and Boss Yang.

What they were discussing was the distribution strategy for "Baby Project".

"We have foreseen the popularity of 'Crocodile Storm', but it shouldn't affect us. By the time 'Baby Project' is released, the momentum of 'Crocodile Storm' will have long passed. The only thing we need to worry about is 'Crazy Racing'..."

Wang Zhonglei said: "Although Crazy Racing is not Zhang Chen's work, it is the sequel to Crazy Stone. Ning Hao is the fourth director in China to have a box office of over 100 million yuan. He should not be underestimated. Moreover, it happened to be released a week earlier than our movie. This is definitely a sniper attack from Xingchen Entertainment..."

Cheng Long was a little worried, stroking the stubble on his chin: "Should we move up the schedule? I'm worried..."

Wang Zhongjun interrupted him and said, "It cannot be advanced."

His younger brother Wang Zhonglei added: "It's like this, Brother Long, we have arranged sufficient publicity resources to counter their sniping. All publicity has been confirmed and even broadcast. Moving up the release date at this time will have a huge impact on us. Moreover, moving up the release date at this time may be interpreted by the audience as you are afraid of Ning Hao..."

Cheng Long also understood this logic. In fact, he just said it casually.

The related publicity has already started a month before the movie is released. If the release date is advanced at this time, the loss will be huge.

And Cheng Long himself didn't think Ning Hao could defeat him.

If it was Zhang Chen, he might still consider it, but not Ning Hao.

In fact, he never understood why "Stone" had such a high box office. He couldn't understand this dialect comedy.

Seeing that Cheng Long had no other ideas, the Wang brothers looked at each other inconspicuously.

The promotion of "Baby Project" must be done well this time, and he must convey a message to the Hong Kong circle that although Huayi Brothers is not the number one in the mainland, it is not bad either.

People are very good at learning lessons.

The departure of Feng Xiaogang and Wang Jinghua made the Wang brothers realize that all their eggs should not be put in one basket.

Although Feng Xiaogang is back now, Huayi cannot rely solely on Feng Xiaogang.

At least walk on two legs.
For the second leg, they were thinking of Hong Kong movies.

There is competition between the Beijing circle and the Hong Kong circle, but they can also cooperate!

The so-called throwing a stone to test the waters, "Baby Project" is the stone thrown.

At this stage, mainland film and television companies are all thinking about binding with the Hong Kong circle.

Not to mention Bona, Yu Dong rose to fame by being the agent of Hong Kong films;
This year, Guangguang Media also invested in a Hong Kong film "City of Pain", which is also scheduled to be released during the Lunar New Year holiday.
Chengtian teamed up with Wu Yusen. Although Red Cliff didn’t get made, they are said to be planning to collaborate on other projects.

So Huayi also teamed up with Eagle King, which led to this cooperation;

In the circle, the only exception is probably Star Entertainment.

However, in the eyes of people in the industry, Xingchen Entertainment is not an exception, but an alternative.

Instead of being tied to Hong Kong films, it acquired a Hong Kong film company.

Huayi is not exaggerating, they really invested a lot of resources to promote "Baby Project".

Advertisements were placed on movie channels, on buses, in elevators, on subways, and at bus stops. Advertisements or posters for "Baby Project" could be seen everywhere. They really tried every possible means.

Cheng Long was very satisfied with this.

Boss Yang was also very satisfied.

(End of this chapter)