Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 603 Young People Don't Like to Listen to Advice
There will definitely be a dinner after the premiere, but there will be a media interview session before that.

While not all media outlets are allowed to attend the premiere, some who have a good relationship with the event are permitted, but taking photos or videos and disclosing spoilers are not allowed.

"Director Guo Fan, what are your box office expectations for the film?"

"Um..." Guo Fan was a little unsure how to answer, so he simply passed the question to Zhang Chen: "Let Director Zhang make the estimate. After all, this is my first time directing, and he has much more experience."

Zhang Chen didn't mince words: "Conservatively speaking, the global box office will be at least 300 million."

"Is the unit US dollars?"

"of course."

"What is the basis for your guess?"

"Because this film follows a theme of individual heroism, and overseas audiences highly admire individual heroism."

Although Hollywood has seen many team-based projects in the past two years, such as Marvel movies and the Fast & Furious series, where teams fight the boss together, individual heroism still has a considerable market.

"So how much do you think the box office in mainland China will reach?"

"It's hard to say, but breaking 300 million should be no problem."

Putting aside the fact that it's a new director, the fact that it's produced by Star Entertainment, stars Fan Bingbing, and is China's first space science fiction film—those three gimmicks alone are worth 300 million yuan.
The leaders from the Film Bureau and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation did not attend the dinner that evening; those present were mostly people from the industry.

Many people congratulated Guo Fan and others, and several bigwigs from film companies came up to chat with Guo Fan.

As everyone knows, although Guo Fan works for Star Entertainment, Star Entertainment does not restrict its directors from taking on outside projects, so there are still opportunities for collaboration.

Even though Guo Fan only has one representative work right now, and it's the most expensive sci-fi film, it doesn't matter. He can build connections first. Besides, it's not like Guo Fan can only make sci-fi films; who knows, he might be good at other things too!
Guo Fan was known as the "Industrial Daji" in later generations, so he was naturally good at interpersonal communication. He was able to be polite and friendly and have pleasant conversations with all the big shots.

The Film Bureau's recent statement has piqued the interest of some people, who have actually started discussing the filming of science fiction movies with Guo Fan in a seemingly serious manner.

Guo Fan was initially quite excited, pouring out his heart and sharing practical tips: how to shoot different types of shots, approximate costs, and which visual effects company would offer the best value for money.
They were very enthusiastic, and what they said was completely genuine.
But gradually, he realized something was wrong.

These guys always talk about making sci-fi movies, but when it comes to special effects, they all shut up.

They all complained that it was too expensive, thinking it was just sending money to the US. Even though Guo Fan told them that Tiangong Yicai could do it and that it was cheaper than Hollywood, it still didn't get any attention.

How can you make a sci-fi movie without special effects?

We can do soft science fiction, right? Isn't "The Moon" a kind of soft science fiction?
At the very least, "The Man from Earth" is still soft science fiction.
Damn it, they were all just scamming for subsidies.

It's all because of you bastards that Chinese films have become what they are today.

Guo Fan is, after all, a young man, and he still has a sense of right and wrong.

Later, Wang Jing explained the key point to him:

"These people can certainly afford to invest in making hard science fiction films."

However, the cycle is long, the monetization is slow, and there is a lot of uncertainty.
Do you think these people are devout filmmakers?
wrong!

He's a businessman.

Businessmen are profit-driven and value commercial returns. If you talk to them about ideals and sentiments, they'll think you're a fool.

Guo Fan was dumbfounded: "Then how come Director Zhang can invest tens of millions of dollars to make movies?"

"Because your Director Zhang is young, and not a businessman, and most importantly, he has always been successful~"
If your second film is also a success, and you announce you're raising 100 million to make another movie, plenty of people will come knocking on your door with money because they believe you can continue to succeed and lead them to wealth. But if you fail, no one will believe in you anymore.
To put it bluntly, the reason your Director Zhang has achieved his current status is because he has never failed and has won every time. Do you know how outrageous that is?
Alright, young man, here's some advice: don't aim too high, just focus on doing your best first.

Wang Jing is truly kind-hearted.

Guo Fan's starting point was too high; his debut film was a $5000 sci-fi movie, and it was a Sino-US co-production.

Wang Jing watched the movie and thought it was really good; he was sure it would be a box office hit.

The phrase "soaring to the sky" is used to describe Guo Fan.

Wang Jing has seen plenty of geniuses; he himself is one.

Wang Jingjian saw more fallen geniuses than anyone else.

However, the two did not have a deep relationship, and he only gave her some advice because she was a newcomer. He would not have cared about anyone else.

He patted Guo Fan on the shoulder and left, leaving the other man alone on the spot.

Guo Fan was struggling internally. He had aspired to be a man like Zhang Chen, but now Wang Jing was telling him that Zhang Chen was a god, not a human. Guo Fan was having trouble accepting it.
But Wang Jing made a very good point: 'Do you know how absurd it is when someone keeps winning?'

Can I keep winning? Probably not.

Can I still become a man like Zhang Chen?

Guo Fan also fell into self-doubt.

In any circle, there are those who slack off, but there are also those who get things done.

Old Wang, Wang Changtian is just that kind of person.

He's a breath of fresh air in the entertainment industry; he doesn't mess around with women and focuses solely on making movies.

In later generations, Cat's Eye was his, and so was "Nezha".

A true winner in life.

At the party, Zhang Chen kept exchanging pleasantries with everyone. When he saw Lao Wang sitting alone in a corner, he went over to him.

Congratulations, Director Zhang! "Gravity" is sure to be a huge hit!

When Wang Changtian saw Zhang Chen coming over, he first offered his congratulations.

"Thank you. We'll need Mr. Wang's help with the publicity as well."

Zhang Chen was referring to offline distribution, Enlight Media's core competency.

"Director Zhang, rest assured, the lighting team will do their utmost."

"By the way, how's Far Cry coming along?"

"Director Wu is still filming; it's expected to wrap up in about two weeks."

Mysterious Island is the first film independently produced and distributed by Enlight Media.

Enlight Media's main business is television programs, and its only notable achievement in film is distribution through terrestrial networks.

Wang Changtian naturally wanted to complete the production process, so Zhang Chen entrusted "Mysterious Island" to him.

The original timeline of "Mysterious Island" was Yang Mi's representative work. In this timeline, Yang Mi naturally no longer needed to rely on selling sex appeal to gain attention, and the female lead became Liu Yan.

Zhang Chen had many controversial movies in his mind, such as "The Legend of the Hunter of Xing'an Mountains," "The Ghost Story of Yin Yang Town," and "The Fox Wife of the Mountain Village"...

These movies make money, but they have poor reviews and may even be borderline. They are not suitable for Star Entertainment or Golden Harvest, but they can't be wasted, right?
It's perfect for giving it to Enlight Media for practice. If it succeeds, Lao Wang will train the production team, and Zhang Chen will earn some pocket money. If it fails, it's not a big deal.
Moreover, Lao Wang is a real filmmaker, so Zhang Chen is happy to let him make some money.

Old Wang is also good at interpersonal relationships. The director directly approached Wu Shixian, which can be considered as keeping the benefits within the family.

At a deeper level, Zhang Chen also felt a little guilty for taking away someone else's opportunity.

In the original timeline, the offline ticketing model was defeated by the online ticketing system, but Lao Wang had the foresight to join Maoyan during the transition between the old and new systems and successfully transitioned to online ticketing.

In this timeline, Maoyan was snatched away by Zhang Chen.

Maoyan has been developing very rapidly recently, and Lao Wang has also felt the crisis.

With the recent releases of several films, Lao Wang could clearly feel that Maoyan was replacing the advantage of traditional online distribution, which made him feel a sense of crisis.

After much deliberation, Old Wang specifically sought out Zhang Chen, wanting to have an open and frank discussion.

Zhang Chen initially thought Lao Wang was looking for him to shut down the online ticketing business, but it turned out Lao Wang was more insightful than he imagined. "I know online ticketing is the future trend. If you don't do it, someone else will. The replacement of traditional ticketing methods is inevitable. I'm here today to consider investing in Maoyan Ticketing."

If there's one film and television company in China that Zhang Chen hopes to build, it's not Huayi Brothers, it's not Bona Film Group, but rather Wang Jianlin's Enlight Media.

So yesterday, Zhang Chen sold 10% of Maoyan's shares to Lao Wang.

……

The premiere was a great success, thanks in large part to Fan Xiaopang's confession.

Many people take this as a declaration of love.

Although Fan Xiaopang didn't say the word "love" once throughout the entire process, the feelings he expressed were almost the same.

Quite a few people joined in the commotion.
In the era of TikTok, when people see someone confessing their love, they immediately shout "Say yes!" without even asking what happened.
This era is pretty much the same.

Many people are tagging Zhang Chen, urging him to take the initiative and break the ice.

Zhang Chen was in a real bind.

That evening, Fan Xiaopang was subjected to torture and forced confession: "Tell me, why did you launch a surprise attack?"

"I want to be with you forever~"

"Not satisfied with this? Then let me ask you, am I not long enough, or not long enough?"

"Oh no, I'm going to die!"

Zhang Chen chose not to respond to the netizens' teasing, leaving it to Fan Xiaopang to explain to them himself. As for whether Fan Xiaopang would actually explain, he didn't know.

In fact, he could probably guess what Fan Xiaopang was thinking. He just wanted to force a connection with him, and he wouldn't mind if it was a story of a beautiful woman chasing a talented man.

Zhang Chen wasn't in a hurry to clarify, since it would benefit the film's promotion anyway.

The next day, Fan Xiaopang started his roadshow, taking Guo Fan with him.

Roadshows are exhausting; you have to visit several cinemas a day, and you might even have to record a TV show.

"Director Guo, what are your box office expectations for this film?"

"This is my first work, and of course I hope to have as many as possible!"

"I heard that even director Zhang Yimou greatly admires your directing techniques."

"It's not that serious, everyone. Don't exaggerate, we're just discussing it together."

If the publicity department hadn't warned him beforehand about the many pitfalls during the interview, Guo Fan might have actually fallen into them.

Those people in the media are really...

"Bingbing, did Director Zhang accept your heartfelt confession?"

"Hey, don't talk nonsense! She's going to get married someday!"

Fan Xiaopang is a master of hype; he neither admits nor denies anything, simply avoiding a direct response and leaving everything to the media's interpretation.

This is the most flexible way to operate; you can decide whether to release or retract your position at the end.

The media made a few more attempts to get answers, but when they realized they couldn't get any results, they changed their questions.

"Everyone says your acting was phenomenal in this film, is that true?"

Fan Xiaopang loved these kinds of questions the most. She tilted her nose and said, "Of course! You'll see when you see the movie. You definitely won't be disappointed. The biggest takeaway for me from this film is a breakthrough in my acting skills!"

"Bingbing, I heard you suffered a lot during the filming of this movie?"

"Yeah, I've even got abs, let me show you!"

As he spoke, Fan Xiaopang rolled up the hem of his shirt, revealing his slender waist.

Believe it or not, I actually have visible abs!
"Wow~"

The crowd gasped in surprise, then camera flashes went off non-stop. That's Fan Xiaopang's waist! Whether he has abs or not, he'll have to pay extra!
At this moment, Fan Xiaopang's face was full of pride: "Let me give you a little science lesson: it is very difficult to film an astronaut's weightlessness."

To achieve the best filming results, the crew invented a new filming method. During the performance, I would be suspended from a device and manipulated like a puppet. This method places a very high demand on the actor's core strength.

This actually involves a point: shooting in zero gravity.

In zero gravity, it's actually very difficult to capture a truly realistic shot.

In 1995, Tom Hanks starred in "Apollo 13," which was filmed using a very expensive method to achieve a realistic effect.

The entire crew rode in the 'Vomiting Comet' aircraft and performed multiple parabolic flights at high altitudes, each flight creating a state of weightlessness for 25 to 30 seconds.

The crew took advantage of this break to film.

Every second truly is money!

This time, "Gravity" has created a different approach, with the actors performing in one place without moving.

The moving equipment is the camera and lighting equipment.

At the end of the roadshow, the organizers announced that, as a final question, a reporter suddenly asked: "Director Guo Fan, what advice do you have for today's young people?"

Guo Fan suddenly remembered Wang Jing's advice to him after the premiere, which almost wore down his fighting spirit.

"I don't have any advice, because I'm still young, and I know myself very well; I don't like taking advice."

……

While Fan and Guo were giving their roadshow, Zhang Chen was also busy, accepting an exclusive interview with Enlight Media.

Host: "What do you think of 'Gravity'?"

"A film that will ignite the summer box office, a landmark work!"

"The evaluation is so high?"

"In terms of filming techniques, *Gravity* offers a completely new approach, significantly reducing the cost of shooting space films. In terms of both effects and story, *Gravity* is undoubtedly number one. Let me put it this way: even 10 years from now, this movie will still rank among the top three science fiction films!"

"Ah~"

The host covered her mouth, looking incredulous: "Even better than Pacific Rim?"

Zhang Chen smiled and waved his hand: "Pacific Rim has some influence in China at most, because it was the first science fiction film made in China, but my evaluation of Gravity just now had a global scope..."

This really startled the host; was it really that exaggerated?
Prompted by the director, the host immediately asked, "So there are no shortcomings?"

"Of course~"

Zhang Chen shrugged: "I'm starting to regret it now. I regret not having Guo Fan film it in 3D. If it had been in 3D, the effect would have been even better."

In terms of plot, Zhang Chen felt it was already impeccable.

In the original version, the female lead successfully landed on the beach but did not kiss the sand, which left many viewers with a sense of regret.

Zhang Chen even improved this aspect, and the emotional impact on the audience was absolutely impressive, but the only imperfection was the 3D.

The original version was released after Avatar, and technically speaking, it was more advanced than Avatar.

But now this version has been mentioned by Zhang Chen before "Avatar". Unfortunately, he and Guo Fan are not very familiar with 3D shooting and dare not use it rashly, wasting such a good opportunity.

……

It's almost the end of the month, please vote for me! I'll see if I can get 1000 votes. Thanks everyone!
(End of this chapter)