Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 617 Summer Movie Season: The Battle Begins

"How's it going? Are you nervous?"

Wang Hao happened to meet Wu Jing, who was in Shanghai promoting "Wolf Warrior 3," while on a business trip to Hangzhou Bay [Southern Galaxy Cinema].

As the director of this film, and also the first time in my life to direct a special effects action blockbuster with an investment of hundreds of millions, it's impossible not to be nervous.

So when Wang Hao saw him, he was noticeably thinner.

"Of course!"

Wu Jing grinned at Wang Hao, revealing a set of bright white teeth.

Even though the "Wolf Warrior 3" crew has been tirelessly promoting the film in major cities across the country these past few days, with little time for rest, his face is still full of excitement, and his eyes seem to be burning with intense passion.

"It would be a lie to say I wasn't nervous. This is the first time I've been in charge of such a big project. I can't afford to mess it up."

"Hahaha!" Wang Hao laughed heartily, patting him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I definitely won't make you sell yourself."

"No, Mr. Wang, if you have a suitable wealthy woman, you can introduce her to me. Xie Nan doesn't mind."

Seeing that he could still joke, Wang Hao swallowed back some words of comfort and instead started talking to Wu Jing about the specific distribution of the movie "Wolf Warrior 3" and the competition it would face during the current summer season.

Thanks to Wang Hao's "The Three-Body Problem 1" which broke the ceiling for domestic film box office last year with an astonishing box office of over 70 billion yuan, the capital market's enthusiasm for investing in the film and television industry has not diminished but increased.

Even with subsequent failures like "Shanghai Fortress," the market as a whole maintained a rapid growth trend, and even the historical film and television winter was delayed considerably.

As of June this year, the number of cinemas nationwide has exceeded 9,000, an increase of about 8% compared to last year, basically covering all prefecture-level cities and more than 90% of county-level areas.

Meanwhile, the total number of screens nationwide reached 6, an increase of about 12% year-on-year. Among them, the screens of cinema chains under Xinghe Group accounted for 25.8%, ranking among the top three in the industry.

The expansion of cinema chains undoubtedly means that newly released films will have more opportunities and a larger market.

Correspondingly, more films are flooding the expanded market, naturally leading to more intense competition.

In June, the Hollywood sci-fi adventure blockbuster "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" hit mainland Chinese theaters, kicking off the summer movie season.

As a sequel to the classic IP "Jurassic Park", the film continues the unique setting of genetically modified dinosaurs from its predecessor. It tells the story of Owen and Claire returning to Isla Nublar to save the dinosaurs before the eruption of the volcano in the dinosaur theme park, but they get caught up in a conspiracy to use dinosaurs for genetic experiments, which ultimately leads to the new species "Indoraptor" going out of control.

With its stunning visual effects created by the Hollywood film industry system and the emotional appeal of the series, "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" grossed 3.17 million yuan on its opening day in China, nearly 1 billion yuan in its first week, and 450 million yuan in its second week, showing tremendous momentum.

However, despite its strong momentum, its decision to release in June, the start of the summer movie season, indicates a lack of confidence in its own strength and a deliberate choice to avoid the most competitive period.

Its box office performance in its second week dropped by 54% compared to the previous week, and its Douban score of 6.6 is enough to prove this point.

Audiences acknowledged the "stunning visual effects" and "realistic dinosaur designs" of Jurassic World 2, but also criticized its "formulaic plot," "weak logic," and "simplistic character motivations." They felt that while the film continued the series' thrills, it lacked originality and was far inferior in quality to its predecessor.

Based on this box office trend and audience reviews, the final box office of "Jurassic World 2" in mainland China will probably be around 15 billion yuan.

After "Jurassic World 2" led the domestic summer box office in June, kicking off the battle for box office supremacy.

In July, a low-to-medium budget film led Chinese films to successfully overtake Hollywood blockbusters.

"Dying to Survive," invested by Galaxy Pictures, directed by Wen Muye, and produced by Wang Hao, achieved a remarkable turnaround at the beginning of its release thanks to its overwhelmingly positive word-of-mouth during preview screenings.

点映累计票房1.65亿，正式上映首日票房1.87亿（不含点映），首周票房（7月5日-7月8日，含点映）13.3亿人民币。

Compared to its cost of 70 million, the box office revenue in the first week alone was already a huge profit.

And this is far from the box office ceiling for "Dying to Survive".

As a film with a realistic theme, "Dying to Survive" is adapted from real social events and focuses on the medical plight of the underprivileged.

The film tells the story of Cheng Yong, a pharmacy owner played by Xu Zheng, who brings back a generic version of the exorbitantly priced drug Gleevec from India and sells it privately. This leads to a police investigation, and the character gradually transforms from selfish to selfless, fighting for patients' right to survival. Ultimately, he is arrested, and the film portrays a unique portrait of ordinary people, revealing the sharp contradiction between expensive life-saving drugs and patients' right to survival, which resonates with the entire nation.

"He just wanted to live, what crime did he commit?"

"There is only one disease in the world, and that is poverty!"

“It costs 40,000 yuan a bottle. I’ve been sick for three years and have been taking it for three years. I lost my house and my family was ruined because of the medicine. Who doesn’t have a sick person in their family? Can you guarantee that you will never get sick in your life? I don’t want to die. I want to live.”

These lines from the movie deeply moved countless people, and audiences who left the theater spontaneously created a "word-of-mouth" effect, actively sharing their viewing experiences and personal stories online.

“I also felt desperate when my father couldn’t afford cancer drugs.”

"I laughed so hard I slapped my thigh in the first half, and cried until I couldn't breathe in the second half—this is not a movie, but an allegory for the existence of each of us."

"Xu Zheng's moment of divine acting: the scene where he sits in the prison van and the patient takes off his mask to see him off, made me see the conscience of the times."

Many well-known film critics have even given this film extremely high praise.

"Dying to Survive symbolizes the rebirth of Chinese realist critical films, which is a blessing for Chinese cinema."

"I never thought I would see a movie like 'Dying to Survive' in China, especially since the director is a newcomer. But when I saw that the production company is Galaxy Pictures, I wasn't surprised."

"This is a flourishing of Chinese cinema."

A massive amount of comments gathered on the internet, and countless positive reviews helped the film achieve even greater success.

It received a 9.0 rating on Douban and a 9.6 rating on Taopiaopiao.com.

Moreover, after the film's release, topics such as "legalization of generic drugs" and "medical insurance reform" quickly became trending topics, even attracting the attention of official authorities.

The official People's Daily published an article affirming that "the value of 'Dying to Survive' lies in promoting social progress."

Driven by "Dying to Survive", the battle for the 2018 summer movie season immediately accelerated from its initial stage.

On July 13th, the second week of the release of "Dying to Survive," the action-fantasy film "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings," produced by Huayi Brothers, directed by Chen Kuo-fu, written by Zhang Jialu, and starring Mark Chao, Feng Shaofeng, Lin Gengxin, Ethan Juan, Sandra Ma, and Carina Lau, was released. The film continues the style of the "Detective Dee" series, combining fantasy suspense with top-notch visual effects, attempting to replicate the success of its predecessors.

However, after its release, "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings" only grossed 1.10 million yuan on its opening day and a total of 2.95 million yuan in its first three days.

Based on this trend, its final box office will be at most 6 million yuan, which seems unlikely to meet Huayi Brothers' expectations.

Moreover, the reviews for "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings" are polarized. It has a score of 8.1 on Maoyan Professional Edition, which seems acceptable, but the score on Taopiaopiao is more realistic, with only 7.3 points. In addition, the Douban score has also dropped from 7.1 at the beginning to 6.1 points.

Although the special effects in "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings" are of a good standard, that is thanks to the Starlight Fantasy special effects team.

Many viewers criticized the show for its loose plot, weak suspense and reasoning elements, incomplete storyline, and disjointed narrative.

In this summer season filled with blockbuster films, it's no wonder that "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings," despite its top-tier cast and visual effects, failed to replicate the success of its predecessor and stand out from the fierce competition.

The only good news is that "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings" is not the only poor performer in the same period; it has other unfortunate counterparts.

On July 20, Jiang Wen's final chapter of the "Republic of China Trilogy," "Hidden Man," was released, taking over from "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings."

The film continues director Jiang Wen's signature sharp style and absurd narrative. Set in Beiping in 1937, it revolves around the revenge story of Li Tianran, played by Eddie Peng, and features several hardcore confrontations with Zhu Qianlong, played by Liao Fan.

In addition, Zhou Yun's dashing spirit, Xu Qing's charm, and Lan Qingfeng's nonchalant attitude make the ensemble cast of characters even more compelling.

As one of Jiang Wen's works with relatively prominent commercial attributes, "Hidden Man" not only retains his signature rhythmic dialogue and cinematic aesthetics, but also attempts to graft historical metaphors onto a revenge story.

With the experience of previous works such as "Let the Bullets Fly" and "Gone with the Bullets", audiences are consciously trying to find more in the films they watch.

Anyway, I just watch his pictures, and the more I watch, the more I see.

While people enjoy finding entertainment in Jiang Wen's films, to be honest, his film "Hidden Man" doesn't quite strike a good balance between artistic merit and commercial appeal.

This can be seen from the polarized reviews the film received after its release.

The film received a 6.3 rating on Taobao Movies and a 7.2 rating on Douban, reflecting a typical "poor market performance, frequent hot reviews, extreme love from some and extreme hate from others" sentiment.

Those who appreciate the film believe that "Hidden Man" continues Jiang Wen's "auteurism," with subtle wit in the actors' dialogue.

For example:
"Who writes a diary?"

"I made dumplings just for this vinegar."

"There are five guns on the ground, aren't you going to pick them up?"

It can be said that its deconstruction of history is full of ingenuity, and its visual style is also unique in Chinese-language films.

Critics argue that "Hidden Man" suffers from a chaotic narrative, with the main plot diluted by excessive fragmented humor. They claim that Jiang Wen's "romanticism" has degenerated into self-indulgence, and that some plot points appear contrived and illogical. Some viewers even bluntly stated that they "understood the spectacle but not the underlying meaning," as if the film was made solely to validate a line from one of his movies, like making dumplings just for a dish of vinegar.

This polarization in word-of-mouth also resulted in "Hidden Man" performing only moderately well at the box office.

The box office was 1.21 million yuan on the first day and 3.12 million yuan in the first three days.

While this performance ranks among the top of currently released films, compared to its predecessors "Let the Bullets Fly" (6.76 million yuan, 2010) and "Gone with the Bullets" (5.14 million yuan, 2014), it has not achieved the expected breakthrough considering the expansion of the market.

With "Dying to Survive" continuing to dominate the market, "Hidden Man," despite gaining some popularity thanks to the appeal of its director and actors, failed to generate nationwide discussion like its predecessor, "Let the Bullets Fly." It is likely that it will ultimately become a work that "leaves a unique mark amidst controversy."

However, a few days after the release of "Hidden Man", public attention to the film dropped significantly.

Because in the last week of July, Galaxy Pictures' "Wolf Warrior 3" will be released.

As the first film in the third phase of the Galaxy Cinematic Universe, Wolf Warrior 3 has garnered significant attention from countless movie fans, who are eagerly anticipating this heavyweight contender for the 2018 summer blockbuster season.

On Taobao Tickets, the pre-sale box office figures for "Wolf Warrior 3" have even reached 300 million yuan.

Furthermore, at the preview screenings before the official release, almost everyone who saw the film gave it rave reviews, saying that the film was top-notch in both commercial appeal and intellectual depth.

On July 27, a week after the release of "Hidden Man", "Wolf Warrior 3" was finally released.

The day before, Wu Jing and other members of the film's creative team held the film's premiere ceremony at the Xinghe Grand Theater.

Those attending the ceremony included not only members of the main creative team from within the industry, but also senior leaders from Galaxy Pictures, Wanda, China Film Group, and Magic Film, as well as several representatives from the military.

As the group's chairman, Wang Hao naturally attended the event with his family in formal attire, which attracted the attention of many media reporters.

"Director Wang, I've heard that your movie 'The Martian' has finished filming?"

"Today is the premiere of 'Wolf Warrior 3,' so let's not talk about anything unrelated to the movie."

Wang Hao waved to the reporter who asked the question, his smile remaining unchanged.

"Director Wang, as an internationally renowned director, what are your expectations for the total box office of 'Wolf Warrior 3'? Does Wu Jing's directing ability meet your requirements?"

"To be honest, Brother Jing is still my senior in the industry; he's older than me."

However, he probably doesn't have much experience directing, especially commercial blockbusters. This is his first time directing a film.

But everyone can rest assured, aside from other things, Brother Jing's ambition and serious and responsible attitude towards his work are top-notch.

With the support of our Galaxy Group's mature film industrialization system and an excellent behind-the-scenes team, "Wolf Warrior 3" can definitely be considered the best military-themed film in China at present.

I can guarantee that everyone who sees it in the cinema will be very satisfied.

As for the box office results, I'll be conservative and hope everyone's support will make me guess wrong this time.

60 billion!

(End of this chapter)