Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 528: Chatting and Donations

When Zhang Chen posted the blog, he was at the last stop of his roadshow, Qingdao, Shandong.

In the evening, the group made an appointment to have dinner.

The tiring roadshow is finally coming to an end and it’s worth celebrating.

During this period, not only roadshows but also related publicity work were not neglected.

The crew of "Lu Yu Has an Appointment", "锵锵三人行", "Super Interview", "Yang Lan Interview", "China Film Report", and "Pacific Rim" appeared on all of them, and also found time to attend half of "Happy Camp" on Mango TV.

The reason why it was only half a show was because the creative staff of Pacific Rim was too few in time to support the recording of a whole show. Also, it was urgent to promote the movie, so Mango TV added a part and recorded it together with another group.

By the way, I also accepted interviews from several magazines.

These magazines interviewed him together, because Zhang Chen was already sick of interview shows, saying the same thing over and over again, which was really torture.

This time, let’s do it together.

He asked the others to go to the hotel first and found a quiet little room for himself, where Zhang Chen faced several media outlets alone.

“Are you satisfied with the box office performance of Pacific Rim?”

"Not bad. The domestic sales have exceeded 400 million so far. I hope to reach 500 million in the end..."

"What do you think this box office performance represents?"

“It means that our domestic film market has great potential, and that the blockbuster strategy implemented by the country in recent years is correct.

Nowadays, the general public’s awareness of watching movies is not strong. The average person may not watch a movie five times a year. So how will the audience choose in these limited times?

Of course, choose blockbusters with greater publicity.

Only when people love watching blockbusters can they develop a habit of watching movies and China's film market can develop.

So, we should try to make blockbuster movies!"

"I heard that Pacific Rim has a very polarized reputation overseas?"

Zhang Chen nodded: "The reviews are actually pretty good. The overall score in the North American market is 8.1 points, the IMDb score is 8.4, and the Rotten Tomatoes score is 3.6 points...

It is normal to have controversy. "Transformers" and "Pacific Rim" are similar in genre and released close to each other, so audiences can't help but compare them..."

"Which one do you think is better?"

Zhang Chen touched his nose and smiled: "If you ask me, it must be Pacific Rim. After all, it is my hard work, just like my child. Of course, if you ask Michael Bay, he will definitely say Transformers..."

"So do you think Pacific Rim will eventually surpass Transformers in box office?"

"It should be OK in China. After all, it is the first domestic science fiction blockbuster, and the audience is still very supportive. But it may not be the case abroad. After all, Transformers is a classic IP that has existed for 20 years. Its influence cannot be compared with Pacific Rim, but time will tell..."

"You mean the time..."

"The essence of a movie, without all the external factors such as publicity, cast, and scheduling, is the quality of the movie itself...

For example, five or ten years later, when we look back at these two movies, we may have different feelings about them.”

“You think Pacific Rim is excellent?”

"Of course, the special effects are top-notch in Hollywood. Even if you watch it ten years later, there will still be nothing wrong with it. I always think that it will not fade with the passage of time, so it is a good movie..."

After one magazine finished asking questions, a reporter from another magazine came over.

"The literary and art circles have recently been trying to interpret Pacific Rim, and they have discovered that it is somewhat different from other Hollywood blockbusters."

"Why is it different?"

“The Hollywood blockbusters we’ve watched generally promote individual heroism, while your Pacific Rim seems to promote collectivism.

There is an analysis online that I think makes a lot of sense. If Pacific Rim was a Hollywood movie, then in the end, it would definitely be about American mecha saving the world, a standard personal heroism. But your version of Pacific Rim is about China, the United States and Russia working together, even going so far as to blow themselves up to find opportunities for their teammates to defeat their opponents. This form has never appeared in previous movies..."

"Bingo, you're right~"

Zhang Chen snapped his fingers and said, "I always thought that even if someone noticed it, they would have to wait until after the screening. I didn't expect that someone would have discovered it in less than a month."

"You specialize in this?"

"yes.

We Chinese people have always paid attention to the right time, place and people when doing things.

China's foreign policy has always been to oppose unilateral trade and advocate win-win cooperation.

This is the way we think, so I took that into account when designing the film's plot.

In Pacific Rim, there is no absolute protagonist.

China, the United States and Russia are all very important.

Indispensable!

Although there are more shots of Chinese mecha, strictly speaking, this is actually a group drama.

Win-win cooperation is the core of this play. As for other things, such as beauties, handsome men, monsters, and mechas, these are just elements of blockbusters, things that attract attention. "

Zhang Chen said it lightly, but several magazines were about movies, and the reporters present were considered half insiders, so they knew that what he said was actually not simple at all.

This thing is like philosophy. I have summarized the rules, but whether you can use them well depends entirely on your own ability.

If it were that simple, why would it be Zhang Chen's turn to shoot the first domestic science fiction film?

“Why do we do this? I mean, if we design it in the style of personal heroism, wouldn’t it be easier for foreign audiences to accept it?
If you design it this way, you will also run the risk of failure..."

Zhang Chen felt that the reporter had hit the nail on the head: "Because I want people abroad to understand us. Only by understanding can we eliminate prejudice...

We joined the WTO and hosted the Olympic Games in order to eliminate prejudice and let foreign countries know what the real China is like. This can also be achieved through movies..."

"Some people say you are saving the mainland film market..."

"It's not that exaggerated, but I have been trying new genres, or I should say that I have a greater sense of urgency than other filmmakers. The Hollywood film industry is very powerful, but they haven't fully understood the preferences of Chinese audiences yet. This is the window of opportunity left for us. We must take advantage of this period to make ourselves stronger, otherwise once that day comes, Chinese films will no longer exist..."

"Is it really that serious?"

"of course."

"For example, Pacific Rim is produced in a completely Hollywood way, and the box office is currently 400 million. What if the six major Hollywood studios also make a blockbuster movie based on this model?"

hiss~
Several reporters took a deep breath.

The interview did not last too long. After the interview, the organizer sent a car to take Zhang Chen to the hotel.

"I'm sorry, everyone. I'm going to be delayed for a while because of an interview. Mr. Lei, I'm really sorry to have kept you waiting for so long..."

As soon as he entered the box, Zhang Chen apologized repeatedly and greeted Mr. Lei specially.

Mr. Lei is not Lei Jun, but Lei Zhenjian, the head of Sina's entertainment section.

He is also an old acquaintance of Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen is one of the most well-known big Vs on Sina Blog. He is also a person in the entertainment industry and has a lot of contact with Lei Zhenjian.

Xingchen Entertainment and Sina often cooperate. Sina.com is also one of the partners in the promotion of "Pacific Rim" this time, with separate sections and special topics.

"Director Zhang, you're welcome. It's okay to delay for a few minutes. We can have a good chat..."

Lei Zhenjian led Zhang Chen to the main seat, and Zhang Chen couldn't refuse, so he sat down.

"Mr. Lei, you have worked so hard this time. You even followed us on the roadshow..."

After three rounds of drinks, Zhang Chen expressed his gratitude.

"It's not hard. I also need to collect materials, and it's fun to be with you all. I'll just treat it as a vacation..."

Lei Zhenjian spoke very politely.

He personally finalized the collaboration on Pacific Rim, and the results were very good.

So far, it has brought over 100 million hits to Sina.com.

Both parties achieved a win-win situation!
This made Lei Zhenjian realize that this was a feasible way of cooperation. At present, in addition to "Pacific Rim", Lei Zhenjian is also preparing to negotiate "The Forbidden Kingdom" which will be released next year, and it would be best to make it an exclusive cooperation.

If you change to someone else, it may not work.
But Lei Zhenjian was very confident.

Since he joined Sina, he was initially in the music section and later moved to the entertainment section. He still has some connections in the circle.

Later, when MySpace entered China, Lei Zhenjian resigned from Sina and joined MySpace, becoming the vice president of operations.

After MySpace failed, he went to LeTV and was responsible for LeTV Sports.

All in all, he is a very capable person.

Under his deliberate guidance, everyone started talking about "The Forbidden Kingdom".

Lei Zhenjian asked, "What do you think of the prospects of The Forbidden Kingdom?" Fan Xiaopang's eyes twinkled, "The collaboration between the two biggest Kung Fu stars in the Chinese-speaking world shouldn't be bad, right..."

Hu Jun curled his lips: "But I heard that the script seems to be quite bad..."

"Well, the script is really bad," Zhang Chen also agreed. "Director Rob Minkoff is the director of The Lion King. He loves Chinese martial arts very much, so he asked screenwriter John Fusco to refer to The Lord of the Rings and write the script for The Forbidden Kingdom. The biggest problem is here. A Chinese martial arts story actually found a foreign screenwriter. Isn't this nonsense?"

"Ah? So you mean, this play will flop?" Lei Zhenjian was a little surprised.

"It's not going to be a flop. This is the first collaboration between Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The box office revenue will be over 100 million just based on the hype. But forget about word of mouth."

Hu Jun also said at this time: "Actually, if you think about it, you will know that Jet Li and Cheng Long have different martial arts styles. If they want to combine them in one movie, and the director is a foreigner, I think it will be difficult..."

"Yes, the cooperation of two Kung Fu superstars would definitely be praised by any producer, but the actual fighting scenes may not be as good as the one between Zou Zhaolong and Zhen Zi, so it's impossible for the word of mouth to be good..."

In fact, from the perspective of future generations, "The Forbidden Kingdom" is just the story of "The Lord of the Rings" wrapped in an oriental skin and has nothing to do with Chinese Kung Fu.

What's more, the plot is shit!
It's true that the audiences of this era are crude and only consider the cast when choosing a movie. Even a bad movie like this can make money.

Twenty years later, "Operation Dragon 2" would have flopped, and something like "The Forbidden Kingdom" would have probably been taken offline in three days.

As an aside, I really think "Operation Jiaolong 2" is quite good, of course, provided that you treat it as an ordinary movie. If you treat it as the sequel to "Red Sea", it is indeed a bit disappointing.

Talking about "The Forbidden Kingdom" brought up Jackie Chan, and talking about Jackie Chan brought up his new movie "Shinjuku Incident".

"Did 'Shinjuku Incident' invite you for an audition?"

"It's not an invitation to audition. As long as I sign, I will immediately become the leading actress."

When Fat Fan said this, he sounded like he was showing off, but he was secretly glancing at Zhang Chen out of the corner of his eye, wanting to see his reaction.

"How much are you being paid?" This is what Hu Jun was really curious about.

"1000."

1000 million is already the top salary for Chinese actresses nowadays, and currently only Zhang Ziyi can get it.

Zhao Yanzi, Zhou Gongzi and the like are slightly inferior, and the offers given to them by film and television companies generally range from seven to eight million.

Liu Jialin's is a little worse, around 500 million.

In fact, during this period, relying on the popularity of "Pacific Rim", a Hollywood company offered her 500 million US dollars to invite her to star in a movie. Of course, they were all small companies and the films were all B-level movies.

Jason Statham is pretty much the same.

Even more of him.

After all, there are still more scripts with men as the leading roles than with women.

Jason specifically checked the schedule with Zhang Chen and learned that Pacific Rim 2 would not start filming until the second half of next year at the earliest, so there would be no delay at all. So he took on a small production - Hummingbird.

"Forget about Shinjuku Incident. In Jackie Chan's movies, everyone except him is a supporting actor. Even if you get the female lead, you'll just be a supporting role. And Shinjuku Incident will most likely not pass the review..."

"Oh, could you tell me more about that?"

Lei Zhenjiang was just thinking about whether to negotiate "Shinjuku Incident" at the same time, and then Zhang Chen said that it would not pass the review.

"What is "Shinjuku Incident" about? It tells the story of overseas Chinese forming gangs in Japan to make a living. Whether it's smuggling or gangs, they are not good things. Such a film will not be allowed to be shown in theaters in China..."

"Even Cheng Long can't do it?"

"What happened to Cheng Long? Rush Hour 3 still can't be released in mainland China..."

Everyone was stunned.

As we were chatting, the phone rang. It was Dong Jianqiang calling.

Zhang Chen didn't avoid people and answered the call.

"Huayi's Wang Zhonglei asked about your schedule and wanted to treat you to a meal?"

"The sun rose from the west? What happened?"

"He's interested in The Whisper of the Wind and wants to buy it from us..."

"We've already announced that The Whispering Wind is next year's project, and he still wants to buy it?"

"He said we can develop it together, but the director will be Chen Kuo-fu."

"What the hell are you dreaming about? That's a project I prepared for my teacher~"

Zhang Chen wanted to hang up the phone after he finished speaking, but the other party immediately said, "Wait a minute, don't hang up yet, there is one more thing..."

"what?"

"It was the TS municipal government. They wanted to make a film to commemorate the Tangshan earthquake and found China Film Group, which recommended us."

TS City Government?
Big earthquake?
Isn’t this “The Tangshan Earthquake”?

But isn’t this Feng Xiaogang’s movie? How did it happen to me?

Zhang Chen was confused.

"Let me think about it~"

Zhang Chen did not agree on the spot. He did not feel any sense of accomplishment for intercepting Feng Xiaogang.

He also doesn't like the movie "Aftershock".

"Well, don't worry~"

Dong Jianqiang on the other end of the phone didn't urge him. Such a thing couldn't be decided in just one sentence.

"One more thing, you just posted a blog saying you would donate 1000 million?"

"Yes, I said, donate 1000 million for the snow disaster~"

Dong Jianqiang was a little anxious: "What do you think? Others donated 1000 or yuan, and many donated or yuan. Now you donated million yuan. What do you think others will think?"

"I don't care what they think. I didn't force them to donate. But then again, public figures should set an example. Compared with other industries, it's easier to make money in the film and television industry. This kind of thing doesn't happen every day. Isn't it right to donate when you encounter it?"

In 07, the pay for a movie actor was about 700 million to 1000 million for a top-tier star.

A first-line TV actor can earn around 300 million to 600 million RMB per drama.

Second-tier movie actors and TV actors are similar, with a salary between a few hundred thousand and a million, while third-tier actors may only make tens of thousands...

But even so, it is still a high salary.

In Beijing in 07, junior programmers made about 3500 yuan a month, and mid-level programmers made 5000-7000 yuan.

This is the computer industry, which is considered a high-paying industry, and it’s in Beijing.

So, don’t say that small actors can’t earn much money.

Even if you don't make much money, you are better than ordinary people.

They are the kind of people who don’t open for a year and make a living for a year after they open.

These people occupy a large amount of social resources. It can be said that they can make money entirely by relying on social attention.

Since it is taken from the people, why can’t it be used for the people?
Without saying too much, is it too much to donate one month's salary? I'm not asking you to donate the salary of a movie.

But what do these people do? Just give out 30,000 or 50,000 yuan as a token of appreciation.

Every time Zhang Chen thought of this, he wanted to curse. They asked you to donate money, but you all cried poor and said that actors' income was not that high.

The entertainment industry paid back taxes, and 23 people easily paid 117 billion.

Aren’t actors paid well?

"You donated money? You donated 1000 million?"

Fat Fan had been eavesdropping nearby and was surprised to hear that Zhang Chen donated 1000 million.

The same goes for everyone else.

Zhang Chen answered the phone without avoiding them.

"Well, I was just writing a blog to praise King Li, and then I saw the news about the snowstorm, so I just donated a little more~"

Although Zhang Chen said it rudely, he actually didn't want to force donation.

He just couldn't stand it.

"Then I'll donate... 400 million too."

400 million is exactly half of her salary for Pacific Rim, and she feels it necessary to be consistent with Zhang Chen.

(End of this chapter)