Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 249: Using Art to Kill Art
(The last chapter prompted me that it had been reviewed and modified. I looked for a long time but couldn’t figure out what had been changed. Finally, I found that my original title had been deleted…)
The brothers Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei of Huayi were so fed up with their lives recently that every move they made against Zhang Chao seemed to become a rope tightening around their necks.

There are now three such ropes.

The first rope is Hu San, who is still in the detention center and is dragged out from time to time to explain his problems. Although Hu San is a bachelor and has not yet confessed, as his other problems are uncovered, it is probably only a matter of time before the middleman is fired.

There are two or three layers of defense between Wang Zhonglei and Hu San, but once the police get serious, these two or three layers of defense are just like paper. I am afraid that in the end, we will have to rely on the connections in the compound to "solve the problem".

The second rope is the "anti-unfair competition" trend launched by China Film Group and "Tide Culture" in the media.

More than a week before the release of "Your Name", China Film Group held a press conference, hosted by Han Sanye himself and Zhang Chao was the main speaker.

Zhang Chao sat behind the table, holding a stack of documents in his hands, and said with great sorrow: "According to the information obtained by Kadokawa Bookstore, the Japanese distributor of Your Name, from the police, the large-scale leakage of the film content this time was a premeditated act of unfair competition, and it was carried out by gang members in Hong Kong..."

Han Sanye also said solemnly at the end of the press conference: "We call on all films to fully compete under the market mechanism, but not to use some sneaky means to harm others and benefit themselves. We will actively cooperate with copyright protection organizations in Hong Kong and Japan to crack down on the criminal acts of 'leaking before release' and 'leaking after release'..."

Wang Zhongjun knew that Uncle Han San had not yet caused trouble for the two and Boss Yang, mainly because "Baby Project" was a major hit in all the cinema chains controlled and invested by China Film. After the National Day holiday, he would definitely take action.

Not long after the press conference ended, my phone was bombarded with calls from countless media outlets, most of whom were asking whether the "unfair competition" company mentioned at the press conference was Huayi?
Wang Zhongjun simply turned off his cell phone and told his secretary not to transfer any calls from the media into the office. Only then did the situation calm down.

The third rope comes from the box office pressure of "Baby Project".

The total investment of "Baby Project" is 1.3 million Hong Kong dollars. From the box office perspective, it will take about 3.5 to 4 million Hong Kong dollars to break even. Relying only on the box office in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, it will definitely lose a lot of money.

Because this is a movie directed by Jackie Chan, it is eligible for "global release". In addition to China, South Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia are also expected to achieve good results.

The mainland box office is undoubtedly the top priority, and is expected to account for at least 60% of the total box office. Even though Huayi is only the second largest investor, it has invested more than 3000 million yuan and is also responsible for the mainland promotion and distribution.

Huayi has always been superstitious about Hong Kong directors and stars. On the one hand, Hong Kong and Taiwan entertainment still has a strong appeal in the mainland; on the other hand, it can also demonstrate Huayi's "international vision" and can be regarded as one of the themes for its listing.

From "Kung Fu" and "A World Without Thieves" in 2004 to "A Chinese Odyssey" in 2005, Huayi has formed a path dependence on Hong Kong stars.

The problem with "Baby Project" is not whether it will lose to "Your Name" - at this point in 2006, such a possibility is almost non-existent - but how much box office revenue will be diverted by "Your Name".

Therefore, in order to maintain the box office of "Baby Project", Wang Zhongjun's proposal to "advance the release date" was not a joke after frustration, but a real business plan.

After the press conference of China Film Group and Zhang Chao, the situation became increasingly unfavorable to them. They had to use strong publicity and promotion actions to prevent the relevant public opinion from further fermenting and let everyone refocus on the "Baby Project" movie itself.

After making up his mind, Wang Zhongjun called Hong Kong and introduced the general situation. He then said, "There is only one way to maintain the mainland box office of our film."

The voice on the other end of the phone was very calm, as if he already knew what he was thinking, but he still asked, "What's the solution?"

Wang Zhongjun said, "That's what I mentioned to you before, to release "Baby Project" ahead of schedule! Let's grab some of the ticket money from the audience first!"

The other party then asked, "Advance? Advance to what time? Is it too late now? The mainland has started the National Day holiday, and people will come out to consume, right? Is it really useful to release it in advance?"

Facing a barrage of questions, Wang Zhongjun patiently analyzed them one by one: "We don't need to prepare too much in advance, just 2-3 days in advance, such as September 9. We have analyzed that the target group of the Baby Plan is teenagers, families, and especially college students, who have plenty of time.

The money in their pockets is usually only enough to watch 1 or 2 movies. We can lower the ticket prices appropriately and coordinate the screening schedule with the theaters, so that we can "overdraw" the budget left by most of the audience for "Your Name" in advance.

"Baby Project" has Big Brother, Gu Zai, Gao Yuanyuan, and Ah Sa, all of whom are stars that college students like now, and the quality of the film is also very high. The early release and promotion will definitely form a good reputation, which will continue to ferment during the holidays and keep the box office going high.

The point is, we can’t learn this trick from “Your Name”. After all, in terms of film size and box office expectations, no matter how much “Your Name” is hyped now, it is not on the same level as “Baby Project”. If we temporarily advance the release date, the theaters may cooperate, but they may not! ”

The person on the other end of the phone listened to Wang Zhongjun's talk quietly, and sneered in his heart. On the one hand, he agreed that Wang Zhongjun's reasons were quite valid; but on the other hand, he also knew that this was a gamble by Wang Zhongjun to protect himself.

So he further asked, "Boss Wang, you put it very nicely. But we Hong Kong people are practical. If the film is forced to be released soon, the theaters will probably be very dissatisfied. Can you deal with it? So I need some guarantees to prove your sincerity and ability..."

Wang Zhongjun took a deep breath for a long time before he made up his mind and said, "As for the mainland box office, we can give up some more..."

After hanging up the phone, Wang Zhongjun sat on the chair and panted. Wang Zhonglei had been sent away by him long ago, and now he was upset when he saw his brother. If it weren't for Wang Zhonglei's domineering personality, he wouldn't have caused such trouble.

In essence, he and his brother are the same kind of people, but he is more "professional" and knows how to be more patient. But he doesn't know why he has been at a loss in dealing with Zhang Chao, leading to the passive situation today.

Wang Zhongjun was also reflecting on whether it was because the two brothers had had a smooth journey from shooting commercials to making movies that they felt that those "little tricks" from the 90s could also be used today and on Zhang Chao.

Before this year, the Wang Zhongjun brothers always felt that their time was about to come - they had won the domestic box office championship year after year, attracted the most big names in the industry, and opened up the channel from literature to film. As long as they could successfully go public in a few years, Huayi would definitely be the undisputed king of the mainland film industry.

Rather than the "uncrowned king" that reporters are praising now.

I didn't expect that my time would end before it even started. If the three ropes were tightened together...

Wang Zhongjun quickly stopped thinking about it. Now was not the time to think about it. The entertainment industry was all about connections and money. As long as "Baby Project" and "Warrior Warriors" in November were big sellers, everything could be salvaged. Even Han Sanye would come forward to make Zhang Chao accept his peace talks.

After all, in the entire mainland, even including Hong Kong, there are only a handful of film and television companies and directors that can successfully operate "billion"-level film and television projects. How many people make a living and a fortune by relying on blockbusters. As long as you can continue to "create wealth", you don't have to worry about how big the hole is. Since it will be released in advance, you must think of a suitable promotion point. After careful consideration, Wang Zhongjun called Yizhe, who had more contact with Zhang Chao, and several senior executives of Huayi who were responsible for publicity and promotion. Yizhe is an old producer and is very familiar with the film's publicity and promotion. After listening to the boss's request, he thought for a long time before speaking:

"One of the main reasons why Zhang Chao's works can attract young people is that they are artistic and can satisfy young men and women's beautiful imaginations of youth, love, and the opposite sex. If we want to 'cut' a piece of the audience of "Your Name" and eat it, we have to start from this aspect.

But no matter how hard I think about it, I can’t imagine that Big Brother’s movie can have any artistic promotional points…”

Wang Zhongjun pounded the table and said, "I don't care. It's September 9. We have to announce the advance release date before September 22. You ask the publicity department to work overtime and find the artistic publicity points you mentioned. We will release the film online on a large scale on the 9th or 24th, and update the materials from the theaters at the same time.

I know time is tight, but this is a matter of life and death for Huayi, and we cannot afford to make any mistakes! So we have to race against time to get the posters, slogans, and press releases ready, regardless of the cost!"

Seeing that Wang Zhongjun's eyes were red with anger, Yizhe and others knew that the boss, who had always been addicted to gambling, had gone too far, so they stopped trying to persuade him and began to act according to his instructions.

Soon, after one day of overtime work, the literary version of the Baby Project was finally hastily launched. Since it is a literary version, the focus cannot be on the skills of the eldest brother, but on the appearance of Gu Zai and Gao Yuanyuan.

The tone of the whole movie adds the theme of "saving the soul", emphasizing how Melody, played by Gao Yuanyuan, influenced the originally gambling and greedy protagonist "Flip-Flops" through her gentleness, kindness and love.

The film's promotional slogan has also become "On September 9, save the baby with Big Brother, and save conscience with Yuanyuan."

It was difficult for Huayi's publicity and promotion staff to carve out such a promotional point in such a hardcore, purely commercial action comedy like Big Brother. Although it was very reluctant, with the cooperation of media press releases that paved the way for money, it finally overshadowed "Your Name" for a while.

In particular, Huayi announced the latest ticket discount policy during the advance release period. If couples buy tickets, they can enjoy a 8% discount; if families buy tickets, they can enjoy a 7% discount, which means that two adults can bring a child in for free.

This was considered a very good discount before the emergence of ticket purchasing apps and ticket subsidy wars.

Wang Zhongjun heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that all his orders were carried out well by his subordinates. He thought that his bet was right this time.

"Baby Project" is a rare good film this year. In the movie, Big Brother not only continues his wonderful action scenes, but also breaks through the limitations of his previous image and plays a compulsive gambler.

Gu Zai and Gao Yuanyuan also played their roles very well. But the most surprising thing for all the audiences who watched the preview was the baby actor who appeared in "Little Baby". Not only was he cute and lively, but he also cooperated with other actors perfectly. No one would not fall in love with this little ghost after watching the movie.

The competition for movie schedules is so cruel that if there is no obvious increase in the number of cinemas, the total box office capacity of each schedule will not increase or decrease drastically, which means that if others get one more bite, you will get one less bite.

If big movies collide with each other in the same release period, it is rare for both sides to win, and it is usually a life-and-death struggle. "Your Name" was not originally a rival of "Baby Project", but it was turned into a strong rival by its own manipulation.

Thinking of this, Wang Zhongjun just wanted to slap himself and his brother in the face. Fortunately, he took the risk of moving up the release date and changing the promotion strategy, and finally got the upper hand. According to feedback from various places, the number of online searches, theater inquiries and ticket pre-sales for "Baby Project" have all increased significantly.

Of course, the advance release does not mean a full advance release. It only needs to select some theaters in the important theaters in the central cities. Anyway, most of the movies these days are cannon fodder. Huayi's own "The Banquet" now only has a box office of several hundred thousand per day and has entered the countdown to its withdrawal.

Thinking of "The Banquet", Wang Zhongjun felt a tightness in his chest...

But soon, news came that made him even more upset.

Just one day before the official release of "Baby Project", China Film and "Tide Culture" suddenly announced a very special movie viewing event called:
"Next year, will you still remember my name?"

The content of the activity is very simple - any couple who buys movie tickets for "Your Name" can receive a special "couple ticket" and sign their names on it.

In October next year, Your Name will be re-screened. The re-screened version will include the cut scenes from this version of the film, as well as a rejected ending...

Couples who have not broken up by then can use their "couple ticket stubs" to enter the theater for free and watch the movie again.

As soon as the news came out, it attracted strong attention and a lot of discussion among young people across the country. Using the form of "couple ticket stubs" to test the love between two people is so literary and romantic.

Many girls' hearts melted when they thought that one year after they watched "Your Name" together, they could still go to the cinema together with their "couple tickets" to relive the tenderness and affection at that time.

Several slogans quickly became popular:
"If you love her, watch a movie with her; if you keep loving her, watch "Your Name" with her"

"When you watch a movie, you see a mood; when you watch "Your Name", you see a kind of love."

"Let's watch "Your Name" together this year. Will you still remember my name next year?"

"To watch other movies, you need interest; to watch Your Name, you need courage."

"I used to confess my love with roses, but this year I used movie tickets for Your Name."

……

When Wang Zhongjun saw the information Yizhe sent him, his eyes went dark and he almost passed out...

(End of this chapter)