Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 460: Little Cannon Gets Scolded

The premiere of "Baby Project" received very good reviews. It has the standard Cheng-style comedy style, with cute little babies and the participation of Da Meiyuan.

Strictly speaking, the kindergarten teacher played by Da Meiyu is actually the second female lead, but during the promotion she was said to be one of the female leads.

There is no way. In terms of fame, Ah Sa’s current fame in mainland China is not as good as that of the beautiful lady.

Cuteness is powerless in the face of beauty.

In this film, Jackie Chan also contributed a famous scene, jumping on the outdoor unit of the air conditioner.

Zhang Chen happened to be on the scene when this drama was being filmed and he still remembers it vividly.

The visuals are very expressive, but not outstanding, because compared to Cheng Long's previous actions, it is really nothing.

The embarrassing thing is that in a Jackie Chan movie, what people talk about most is the long shot shot by Zhang Chen.

There is a long shot where Cheng Long and Hei Gu return home and find that the three parties have chased them here, and then there is a chaotic fight, and then they jump off the air conditioner unit like jumping through lattices, and then they run around with the baby stroller and are almost hit by a car.

When Zhang Chen went to visit the set, Cheng Long was not satisfied with the shot of jumping out of the air conditioner unit no matter how it was shot. In addition, the three-and-a-half-minute long shot of "Taken" was very famous at the time, so he asked Zhang Chen to help shoot it.

Zhang Chen redesigned the seventeen scenes and spent two days shooting them. Unexpectedly, they became the biggest highlight of "Baby Project".

"The Baby Project" was released a week later than "Racing", and on the last weekend of September, "The Baby Project" was released as scheduled.

This is also a film with very good reputation. Huayi Brothers spent a lot of money and many film critics sang praises for this film.

The producers were tactful enough to release the latest version of the trailer, which turned out to be the long shot shot by Zhang Chen.

The number of clicks on the trailer skyrocketed as soon as it was released, and the forum was full of discussions about the trailer.

[Not bad, this version of Cheng Long's movie is a little different]

[Yes, but why do I feel that Chen is angry in this long shot? Chen is the Chen in Zhang Chen.]

[The words above woke me up from my dream. I felt familiar with it at first, but I just couldn’t remember it. Now that you put it that way, isn’t this a replica of the long shot in Taken?]

[Confirmed, Cheng Long's movie is actually plagiarized~]

[The king actually plagiarized? 】

For a while, the discussion in the forum was in full swing.

Some people expressed their disappointment in Jackie Chan, but more people said they were very interested in "Baby Project" and wanted to see what the complete long shot looked like.
The media also began to hype it up crazily~
I have to say that Huayi Brothers really put in their best effort this time.

They were worried that the National Day period could not accommodate three blockbusters, so they deliberately moved "The Banquet" to the summer period. If "The Baby Project" still loses, it would be a shame.

However, faced with the box office of "Cars", they had no choice but to change their strategy.

Before "Racing" was released, Huayi's publicity and promotion strategy had always been to bundle the two films together and describe the National Day period as a PK journey between famous seniors and new directors.

But after "Racing" earned over 100 million yuan in three days, Huayi knew it couldn't continue promoting it in this way, otherwise it would bring shame upon itself.

Then the promotion of "Baby Project" was changed to - Cheng Long surpassed himself, the goal: break 100 million~
This is almost becoming a source of worry for Cheng Long.

Among the Hong Kong people who have gone north to develop their careers, the famous ones have had works that have grossed over 100 million yuan, but he is the only one who has not.

I was too embarrassed to call them during the premiere.

For this purpose, Cheng Long specially set aside three days for promotion.

Jackie Chan is very busy. Even when his own movies are released, he rarely participates in roadshows.

Because there is no time.

Usually, his schedule is scheduled for a year later.

"Baby Project" started filming in December 05 and the shooting lasted for 12 months.

紧接着就是《尖峰时刻3》，06年7月开机，一直要拍到07年4月。

Then in May, it was seamlessly connected and "The Forbidden Kingdom" started.

Cheng Long is so busy, it's great that he can spare three days to promote "Baby Project".

The effect was also very obvious. The box office in the first weekend was 3300 million, which may not seem like much, but is about the same as the one-day box office of "The Race".

But don’t forget, in three days it will be the seven-day National Day holiday, and every day is equivalent to a weekend.

The release of "The Baby Project" inevitably had an impact on "The Race", the most obvious being the box office.

In its first week of release, "Race" grossed 107 million on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

On the weekend of the second week of its release, which was the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday when "The Baby Project" was released, the box office for three days was only 47 million.

The impact was very severe and it didn’t even catch up to half of the first weekend.

But it’s still big news because it’s exceeded 200 million.

In the first few days of the second week, the box office was just over 10 million every day, plus the more than 40 million in the three days of the weekend, it was exactly 100 million.

Then the media exploded instantly, and "Racing" broke 200 million in ten days.

It really was ten days, no more, no less, just right.

The sales exceeded 100 million in three days in the first week.

In the second week and seven days, the revenue exceeded 100 million again.

It broke 200 million in just ten days.

The media are celebrating the birth of the third movie in film history to gross over 200 million yuan.

At the same time, Ning Hao successfully became a member of the 200 million movie club.

Currently, the members of the 200 Million Movie Club are:
Zhang Chen, “Taken,” 2.6 million;
Zhang Yimou, "Hero", 2.5 million;
Ning Hao, "Crazy Racing", 2 million;
Of course, "The Race" hasn't been released yet, and we don't know how its final box office will be. It might even become the club's number one.

The media has been reporting extensively, all discussing what the final box office of "Cars" will be.
When Huayi saw this situation, it realized that the momentum created with great difficulty at the premiere was about to be suppressed, so it immediately started a new round of publicity.

Cheng Long accepted an interview: "Everyone is discussing the long shot in "Baby Project", and some people say that this long shot was copied from Zhang Chen's "Taken". Here, I solemnly declare that this shot is not plagiarized, it was shot by director Zhang Chen..."

What?

I said you plagiarized, and you tell me this?

The reporters were all confused.

Then, a VCR was played on the spot, and the process of Zhang Chen directing this scene on the set had already been filmed as a behind-the-scenes footage.

This is not a candid photo.

The Jacky Cheung Stunt Team has always had the habit of recording on-site shooting situations for behind-the-scenes footage, and Jackie Chan's films have been doing so since the 90s.

Then, the audience's attention immediately returned to "Baby Project".

[It turns out that this shot was really taken by Zhang Chen~]

[I was wondering why this long shot was so insane. It turns out it was really his technique.]

[The case has been solved. The author of the long shot is Zhang Chen~]

[Cheng Long replied that there was no plagiarism, the long shot was shot by Zhang Chen]

Then the wind direction changed again~
[Why did Zhang Chen help Cheng Long take long shots? Isn't this aiding the enemy? ]

[Rumor has it that Zhang Chen and Ning Hao have fallen out, so they support outsiders to fight their own people]

[Zhang Chen, Ning Hao, Cheng Long, love and hate each other~]

Then, someone started to expose the relationship between Zhang Chen and Da Meiyuan:

[Someone from the crew claimed that Zhang Chen went to visit Da Meiyuan on set, and then helped direct that long shot out of courtesy~]

[What is the relationship between Zhang Chen and Da Meiyuan? ]

I was exposing the news, but somehow it went off track~
A netizen with the ID '虎扑第一公子' left a message: "Zhang Chen, the hatred of having your wife stolen is irreconcilable~"

Then it was like I was infected with a virus, and there were a lot of +1s behind me~
Related topics quickly appeared in major forums, and within a short period of time, they could reach hundreds of floors.

Zhang Chen became popular again, in an inexplicable way.

……

华谊兄弟
The two brothers laughed as they watched the online comments moving in a direction favorable to "Baby Project".

"Zhonglei, you did a good job this time~"

Wang Zhonglei has always been responsible for guiding public opinion. So Wang Zhongjun naturally thought that this incident was the work of Wang Zhonglei.

Wang Zhonglei knew very well that only the beginning was his work, and the rest was completely spontaneous behavior of netizens.

The Internet is always a place full of surprises.

They had just found out what the heck Da Meiyuan was - the 'Hupu Goddess'. They hadn't expected that these old perverts had inadvertently helped the 'Baby Project' so much.

……

Xingchen Entertainment, Zhang Chen was also speechless when he learned about all this.

It feels like I've shot myself in the foot.

When Da Meiyuan acted in art films before, she was a boring girl. Although her appearance was good, her outfit was really tacky.

It was only after she listened to Zhang Chen's advice and took a more fashionable approach that she gained a group of fans.

The title of 'Hupu Goddess' was won at that time.

What Zhang Chen didn’t know was that Hupu.com was founded in 2004.

However, the 'Hupu Goddess' event was not held until 2016, when it was first selected.

In this life, because of butterfly wings, the 'Hupu Goddess' was born early.

In the original time and space, the birth of the 'Hupu Goddess' is quite interesting.

Netizens were not satisfied with the media's selection, so they spontaneously held a beauty selection on Hupu.com using the competition mechanism of competitive sports.

The competition system is very formal:

First, 64 candidates were selected, divided into 40 from China, 12 from Europe and the United States, and 12 from Japan and South Korea.

The 64 candidates were divided into 8 groups, with 8 people in each group, and the last 2 in each group were eliminated.

The 48 qualified players will continue to draw lots, the 24 winners will directly advance to the top 32, and the 24 losers will enter the revival match.

The 24 contestants who enter the revival match will be divided into four groups for direct voting, and the top two contestants in each group will advance to the round-robin match of 32.

The top 32 teams will adopt a round-robin format, with 4 players in each group. Their comprehensive scores will be calculated after competing against three players in the same group.

After the 32 teams advance to the 16th, the competition enters a World Cup-like mode, including 16 to 8, 8 to 4, 4 to 2, 2 to 1, etc., to gradually determine the final champion.

Original time and space

The first champion, Alyssa Chia;

The second session of Yau Shu-ching;

The third session was Tong Liya;

The fourth Liu Yifei;

The fifth Gao Yuanyuan;

It can be said that every session is well-deserved.

People's eyes are sharp.

She is able to stand out among so many beauties and is recognized by everyone for her appearance, temperament and role.

Moreover, this is a grassroots activity, pure public opinion, not the result of a brokerage company's public relations.

In the original time and space, Da Meiyuan won the title of 'Hupu Goddess' with the help of Zhou Zhiruo in "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber".

In this life, she won the title of "Hupu Goddess" because of Ye Lanqiu in "Search".

Da Meiyuan called Zhang Chen at this time: "The media are saying that I am your girlfriend, am I?"

Zhang Chen didn't say anything, and Da Meiyu knew that this attempt had failed.

"Okay, okay, I was just kidding you~"

Zhang Chen didn't want to continue this topic. "Shouldn't you be on the roadshow? How come you still have time to call me?"

Da Meiyuan's voice came from the other end: "No, that's not the case. Brother Long has gone back to Hollywood. If the main character isn't here, what's the point of us supporting actors going on a road show?"

Cheng Long only gave three days to cooperate with the promotion, and immediately returned to Hollywood when the time was up.

In just these three days, I don’t know how many urgent calls I received from the new line.

It comes to mind that Huayi Brothers has a difficult time. They are responsible for the promotion and marketing of the film, but the biggest star doesn't even have time to cooperate with the publicity.

Zhang Chen was wondering why Huayi released the news of his visit to the set and hyped up the scandal between him and Da Meiyuan. It turned out that there was no other way.

"So what are you busy with recently? How about coming to my place in the evening?" As soon as Xiao Zhang heard that Da Meiyu was free, he showed signs of looking up, so Zhang Chen took the opportunity to make an invitation.

"No, I have something to do~"

"What are you busy with?"

Zhang Chen was a little surprised. He was actually rejected?
What is more important than improving your acting skills?
"I have an audition tomorrow and need to prepare~"

"Audition? What role? Whose movie?"

When Zhang Chen heard it was an audition, he immediately became interested.

No woman has ever rejected him for a role, and he wants to know who can make Da Meiyuan make such a decision this time.

"Lust, Caution, a work by Ang Lee~"

When Zhang Chen heard it was "Lust, Caution", he understood.

Ang Lee has won all three major European awards and the Oscar for Best Director. In terms of status, he is indeed more famous than him.

When thinking of Lust, Caution, Zhang Chen immediately thought of which character:

"Wang Jiazhi?"

"you know?"

Da Meiyu was very surprised. The casting of "Lust, Caution" was not publicized on a large scale. It was just quietly launched in the village without any hesitation.

She didn't expect that Zhang Chen actually knew it.

Zhang Chen ignored her and said directly, "Did you know that Wang Jiazhi's role involves nudity?"

There was silence on the other side.

That is knowing.

Did you know you still had to audition?
It seems that he is ready to show up for art.

Zhang Chen's mind flashed with the image of the other end of the paper clip turning into Da Meiyuan, and he felt inexplicably upset.

He really doesn't like "Lust, Caution" and his values ​​are not right.
He dislikes Da Meiyuan’s attitude towards “Lust, Caution” even more. Is she trying to put a crown on me?

"Think it over yourself."

Zhang Chen didn't want to say any more to her and hung up the phone directly.

He was a little disappointed. He had tried his best to help Da Meiyuan. He helped her change her image, gave her the leading role in "Search", and helped her participate in Cheng Long's "Baby Project".

It can be said that he has done his utmost.

But in the end, I still suffer from the literary youth disease.

As soon as I heard that it was a work by the internationally renowned director Ang Lee, I wanted to be in it even if it involved exposing my nipples.

Are international directors so attractive?

Why doesn't she think about the fact that once she is exposed, it will be devastating to her career?

The image of an elite woman that she had worked so hard to establish is now completely destroyed. Will she still be chosen for commercial endorsements?
Although the casting news for "Lust, Caution" has not been publicized much, it is not a secret and basically everyone in the industry knows about it.

It is said that no less than ten people were found in total.

I looked for Liu Tianxian, but she rejected it because of the large scale.
I have looked for Shu Qi, and Shu Qi is trying to clear her name, so how could she make the same mistake again?

It is said that Zhou Xun and Zhao Yanzi were also approached, but in the end they failed to reach an agreement;
Zhang Ziyi and Big S were willing, but Ang Lee felt that their images did not fit the roles and did not agree.

Why doesn’t Da Meiyu think about why others are pushing it?

Is it because you don’t want to be famous?

Shu Qi is famous, but he still hasn't put his clothes back on.
However, these are Zhang Chen's own thoughts, and he does not intend to persuade anyone with earnest words.

It’s hard to persuade the damn ghost~
If Da Meiyu doesn't understand and insists on having her own way, Zhang Chen will have no choice but to cut off ties with her.

From now on, Da Meiyuan will not be able to participate in any projects he leads.

No chance to audition.

On the other end of the phone, Da Meiyu looked at it in astonishment. Why did he hang up out of nowhere?
Angry?
This was the first time she saw Zhang Chen angry.

Why do I feel a little nervous for no reason?

Zhang Chen was obviously very resistant to her wanting to play the role of "Wang Jiazhi", or in other words, he was very resistant to performing nude scenes himself.

This made her very embarrassed.

On one hand, there is Zhang Chen, the top domestic director who has helped him, and on the other hand, there is Ang Lee, an internationally renowned director.

Do I have to choose one of the two?

Then she looked at the book "Lust, Caution" next to her.

It’s not a script, but Eileen Chang’s original novel “Lust, Caution”.

If you want to get a role, you have to do your homework, and reading the original work thoroughly is a basic step.

However, there was a sentence in it that shocked her: The way to a woman's heart is through her vagina.

It really shatters my worldview. How could such a great writer write these things?
Da Meiyu was in a dilemma. She had called today to seek advice from Zhang Chen. They were all big directors, and perhaps Zhang Chen could tell her how to get the role.

But now it has become like this~
I thought of Zhang Chen again. If it was Zhang Chen who filmed "Lust, Caution", it would be great. We could win him over as long as we learn from him. But in reality, it was Ang Lee, and Ang Lee doesn't seem to like this.
……

For the following time, Zhang Chen ignored Da Meiyuan and let her calm down and think it through.

Da Meiyu called several times, but Zhang Chen didn't answer.

He is busy, there are a lot of things going on in the company!
After breaking 200 million, Ning Hao and the main creative team ended their roadshow and returned to Beijing.

bang~
bang~
As soon as people walked in, they were bombarded with ribbons.

"Welcome the 200 million director to our company~"

Zhang Chen smiled and clapped, and the others followed suit.

Ning Hao was submerged in the streamers, and his ugly face broke into a smile. He clasped his fists and hugged everyone with a smile. Behind him was the main creative team of "Racing".

We just came back from a roadshow. Everyone was exhausted, but the joy on their faces could not be concealed.

"Everyone has worked hard during this period, come on, give out red envelopes~"

Chen Xiaowei had already prepared everything and handed out red envelopes one by one. After each person received a red envelope, they quietly pinched the thickness of the red envelope, and the smile on their face immediately became even wider, with their teeth showing.

"This time it's for the main creative team. When the movie is out, everyone will have one~"

Zhang Chen announced it again and immediately received support from the entire company.

"Director Zhang is wise~"

"Long live Director Zhang~"

"Director Zhang, let me kowtow to you~"

A joyful atmosphere spread throughout the company. Zhang Chen took the opportunity to hug Ning Hao and said, "We are just showing our appreciation today. We will celebrate with you at the celebration banquet tomorrow~"

Ning Hao naturally had no objection.

He has made a fortune from the movie "Racing".

The director's salary is 500,000 yuan, and Zhang Chen just gave him another 500,000 yuan in red envelope, but the majority of it actually goes to Bad Monkey Studio's share.

Of course, the profit of the movie could not be just over 6000 million as Zhang Chen said on the show, it could be more than double.

There are also overseas copyrights~
In addition, there are a series of other TV station copyrights, DVD copyrights, etc., which add up to a lot.

Compared with these, the red envelope just now is nothing.

At the celebration banquet the next day, Ning Hao and Han Sanping personally smashed the 2.4 million digital ice sculpture.

That’s right, in its third week, the box office of “Cars” reached 2.4 million, million short of catching up with “Hero” and million short of “Taken”.

But the box office potential has been almost exhausted.

During the seven days of National Day, everyone knows everything they should know, and most of what they should see has been seen. If you don’t want to see it, no matter how much you shout, it won’t have much effect.

The box office of "Baby Project" also reached 8000 million.

This movie actually survived the powerful attack of "Cars".

Not only did it survive, it also took in considerable box office revenue.

"The Baby Project" has a great influence on "The Race", and both films are good films with great reputation.

Moreover, Huayi did something weird again later. Its main publicity strategy was to link "Baby Project" with Zhang Chen, and the promotion of the two movies was about the battle between Zhang Chen and Ning Hao.

Zhang Chen: I just shot a long shot, how did it become the representative of "Baby Project"?
But we have to say that the audience buys into this, otherwise the movie wouldn't have earned 50 million in box office revenue in just seven days during the National Day holiday.

Xingchen Entertainment is no pushover either and responded in a timely manner.

After the celebration party, the focus of publicity shifted from the movie itself to propaganda.

Of course, the pulling is not about "Baby Project", but about Feng Xiaogang.

['The first person to make comedy films in mainland China', well-deserved]

[Ning Hao steps on Feng Xiaogang]

["Racing" beats "The Banquet", Feng Xiaogang fainted in the toilet~]

[A new king is born, Feng Xiaogang bows down to him~]

[Alas, since Hao was born, why was there steel?]

Xingchen Entertainment’s publicity is overwhelming, covering the media, the Internet, and all aspects.

The main theme is "If you mess with my boss, I'll mess with your director!"

Feng Xiaogang vomited blood after watching it, why did I faint in the toilet from crying~
When has Little Cannon ever suffered such anger? If he doesn't spit back, he would be called "Little Cannon" for nothing.

That afternoon, Xiao Gangpao opened a blog, and the title of his first blog post was - "There are so many crappy movies in China because there are a bunch of crappy audiences."

Zhang Chen was shocked when he found out. Who asked you to say the lines from "1942" in advance?

Feng Xiaogang didn't think he had done anything wrong. He wrote a long blog post in which he vented all his negative emotions.

There is only one theme:
"The Race" is a piece of rubbish, and it is far inferior to "The Banquet" in terms of cultural value.

Those who like to watch "Cars" are also rubbish.

Comparing these two movies itself shows that the quality of the audience is not high.

As for the title of 'the first comedy director in mainland China', whoever wants to be the director can be the director, but I won't take the title.

The blog caused a sensation as soon as it was released, and its popularity directly surpassed the two movies "The Race" and "The Baby Project".

Based on the box office of 2.4 million yuan for "Racing" and the price of a movie ticket of 40 yuan, the number of moviegoers exceeded 6000 million.

What Xiao Gangpao said is equivalent to directly calling these 6000 million people idiots.

Can this be good?
Even Zhang Chen admired Feng Xiaogang's courage.

For a time, the insults against Feng Xiaogang were overwhelming. The little gangster was still stubborn at first, but it only lasted for one day before he gave up.

I guess someone reminded him that if he didn't admit his mistake, he would be drowned in the vast ocean of the people.

With this kind of heat, the media naturally wants to continue to stir up trouble.

Someone interviewed Zhang Yimou, but he did not express any opinion.

Someone interviewed poet Chen, but he didn't say a word.

Someone interviewed Ning Hao, but he remained silent.

Someone interviewed Zhang Chen, and Zhang Chen spoke:

"Director Feng is just too arrogant and thinks the audience needs education~
But he didn't think about whether he had these qualifications.
You are making a movie, who are you making it for?
For yourself?
Not for the audience yet.

The audience is your bread and butter.

Calling the audience trash, isn't that like eating with a bowl in hand and cursing after putting the bowl down? "

Zhang Chen started to curse, not giving the other party any face at all.

In the original time and space, Feng could say such words.

In this life, he still said such words, which meant that this was what Feng thought in his heart.

There is no need to sympathize with me, I will curse you to death~
At the end of the interview, Zhang Chen concluded: "Since Director Chen has not made a statement, I will use the line from Farewell My Concubine to send Director Feng a message: We are all from the lowest class, so no one should look down on anyone else~"

(End of this chapter)