Rebirth: I'm filming extra scenes on the set

Chapter 125 Chen Cheng's next work: "The Warlords". (Subscribe)
"Damn it, I was tricked into contributing a movie ticket. I just want to say, what a rubbish movie this is."

"What kind of blockbuster is this? Does it mean a blockbuster is just a movie starring a big star?"

"I watched it for more than two hours. The movie was so confusing that I kept falling asleep."

If we say that most of the reviews in the first week were positive.

Then in the second week, countless complaints came in.

of course.

There will be complaints about any movie.

No matter how well the photo is taken, it will still be there.

but.

When this kind of complaints become one-sided, any soft articles, promotions, and advertisements in the media become useless.

What is the essence of film?
It is difficult for ordinary people to understand them.

What kind of pictures, what kind of lighting and shadow, what kind of acting...these may all be very important for a movie.

but.

If a story is not told well, no matter how good the pictures, acting skills, or directorial techniques are, they will be of no use.

This is the end.

The failure of "The Banquet" also came.

Although the box office he is currently generating is pretty good, better than most movies.

But compared to the 1.6 million yuan he invested before, this is also a huge loss in the history of domestic films.

"Good boy, how did you predict that The Banquet would only make 1.2-1.3 million yuan at the box office?"

"Guess."

The first day of the third week of "The Banquet".

The box office on that day once again hit a new low, with less than 200 million.

According to this trend.

The total box office of The Banquet is only around 1 million.

Han Sanping called Chen Cheng immediately.

"Guess?"

Han Sanping almost vomited blood: "You know, everyone was very optimistic about "The Banquet" at that time."

Having said that, at this moment, Han Sanping had to admire Chen Cheng's vision.

To know.

Chen Cheng made this prediction several times.

Before "The Banquet" was released, he predicted it would be 1.2 million to 1.3 million.

Even though "The Banquet" performed very well during its release, Chen Cheng still insisted on 1.2 million to 1.3 million.

This kind of vision is not something that ordinary people can compare with.

Even though he, the head of China Film Group Corporation, has been in the industry for many years, is not as good as Chen Cheng in this respect.

"So, Director Han, what kind of movie have you prepared for me?"

"Uh……"

Director Han was stunned for a moment: "This..."

"Director Han, you won't go back on your word, will you?"

"Of course I mean what I say. But..."

Scratched his scalp.

This made Han Sanping feel a little embarrassed.

The embarrassing thing is not that he has no resources.

There are too many films invested by China Film Corporation.

In the industry, he can arrange any position for you with just a few words.

Even if he is the director, he still has the final say.

But losing the bet made Han Sanping feel very embarrassed.

"How about we make another bet?"

"..."

Chen Cheng rolled his eyes.

It surprised me that.

Some of these big guys refuse to admit defeat, and some even cheat.

Perhaps knowing that his behavior was indeed somewhat inappropriate, Han Sanping continued, "Don't worry, I will definitely arrange this film for you. However, I still want to test your vision."

"Director Han, go ahead."

"According to current data, it is a foregone conclusion that The Banquet will lose money. Several movies that were not originally intended to compete with The Banquet will probably be released soon."

"You mean The Attack of Mo?"

"Correct."

Han Sanping nodded: "This film was also invested by Huayi. Of course, we at China Film also invested a little, but the proportion is not large."

"Director Han, what do you mean?"

"I predict that The Battle of Wits will be available in about three days. What do you think the box office of The Battle of Wits will be?"

"This one……"

Chen Cheng was a little confused.

Director Han said, "What's there to be ashamed of? Although China Film Group invested, it was only symbolic. Even if we lose money, it will not have any impact on us."

"Then Director Han, you should be prepared to lose money."

"puff……"

Han Sanping was defeated by Chen Cheng: "Are you so pessimistic about Mo Gong?"

"I estimate that the box office of The Battle of Mo may not even reach 7000 million in mainland China."

"you sure?"

"determine."

Although Chen Cheng, as a reborn person, has already had a certain influence on this world.

But for the time being, Chen Cheng's influence can be ignored.

Chen Cheng had never participated in either the Night Banquet or The War of Ink.

At the same time, Chen Cheng is not a big boss in the industry for the time being, so it is impossible for him to have any influence on them.

and so.

Their box office results will ultimately be the same as in their previous lives.

"Okay, I see."

hang up the phone.

Han Sanping retrieved Mo Gong's information.

"The Warring States" is starred by superstar Liu Dehua.

In addition, well-known movie stars, Fan Binbin, Wu Qilong... and other actors also participated.

Although the director is not as famous as Director Feng today, he is also a famous Hong Kong director Zhang Zhiliang.

In the 80s, he directed a very famous movie "The Last Eunuch of China".

In fact.

For the two works "Night Banquet" and "The Warring States".

What Han Sanping is looking forward to more is "The Warring States".

One reason is that The Banquet was not invested by China Film Group after all, so he was not particularly looking forward to how The Banquet would turn out.

most.

If The Banquet performs well, maybe China Film Group will maintain more cooperation with Huayi.

But the failure of "The Banquet" made Han Sanping much more cautious.

Although Huayi’s production capabilities are very strong, it is too risky to bet on one director.

"The Warring States" is different.

Anyway, China Film Group invested in "The Warring States", although the investment was not much, but it was still an investment.

Since you have invested, you should think about making money.

Obviously, Han Sanping is more looking forward to "The Warring States".

Also.

Compared to the fictional historical drama "The Banquet", "The Warring States" is a more authentic historical drama.

Although there are certain adaptations in this story, the history is rich and there are many history fans.

At the same time, Liu Dehua has many fans and his box office appeal is still good.

just.

Chen Cheng said that the box office of "The Warring States" might be less than 7000 million, which made Han Sanping hard to accept.

……

"Director Chen, why did the box office of The Banquet suddenly go out of control?"

“It’s a complex issue.”

"But The Banquet had a good box office in its first week. Many people predicted that The Banquet would have a good box office. But according to the current trend, The Banquet's box office is only 1.2 million at most, and it may not even reach that."

"There may be dozens of factors that contribute to the success of a movie, and there may also be dozens of factors that contribute to the failure of a movie."

At the Beijing Film Academy’s director training class, Chen Cheng did not talk much about the faults of “The Banquet”.

In fact, from the perspective of domestic film development, "Night Banquet" can also be regarded as an exploration of large-scale productions by major domestic directors.

But this exploration ultimately failed.

As for the reason.

There are many.

Maybe it's because the film fails to tell a good story.

It is also possible that Feng Xiaogang paid too much attention to the details in the movie and neglected the movie itself.

More likely, the story itself is not attractive and people are not interested in it.

It's also possible...

Anyway.

In the slowly rising domestic film market, you may not be able to fully grasp the market direction, which brings greater challenges to directors.

“It seems that directing a film is not that easy.”

"Yeah, even Director Feng is losing money at the box office, let alone us."

"You should learn from Director Chen. Director Chen's vision is one of the best in our circle."

The students in the directing class listened to the lecture carefully and no longer thought about anything else.

the other side.

The Battle of Mo is just as Han Sanping of China Film said.

When The Banquet failed, The Battle of Mo took over more screenings vacated by The Banquet.

At the same time.

The director of The Battle of Wits also took Liu Dehua and other leading actors to various cities for promotion.

Chen Cheng also went to the cinema to watch "The Warring States".

This was not an invitation from Han Sanping or the producer.

Chen Cheng went to see it with his classmates.

After coming back.

A group of students were talking about the plot of “The Warring States”.

The plot of Mo Gong is actually very simple. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the State of Zhao wanted to attack the State of Yan.

But standing in the way of Yan State was Liang State.

So the State of Zhao sent an army of 100,000 to attack the State of Liang.

King Liang asked Mohist school for help.

Unexpectedly, the Mohist school only sent one person, and that person was Ge Li, played by Liu Dehua.

King Liang was very skeptical about Ge Li's strength, but unexpectedly, Ge Li was able to win unexpected victories time and time again and defeated Zhao's attacks again and again.

For a time, Ge Li's reputation was very high.

At this moment, King Zhao ordered his troops to retreat.

King Liang was worried that Ge Li's reputation would threaten his own position, so he wanted to kill Ge Li, although Ge Li escaped.

However, some of the Zhao troops who remained outside launched a counterattack again.

All of a sudden.

The State of Liang was destroyed by 2000 Zhao troops.

But Ge Li did not leave. Instead, when the Zhao army conquered Liang State, Ge Li came back again and defeated the Zhao army.

“I think this movie is better than The Banquet.”

"Well, it's pretty good overall, and the story is relatively good."

"Hong Kong directors are still quite fascinating when it comes to historical dramas. Many historical scenes do not match reality."

"That's right. Ge Li has always been promoting the Mohist theory of universal love and non-aggression, but in the movie we didn't see universal love and non-aggression. Instead, the issue was resolved by force, which seems to contradict universal love and non-aggression."

"Also the dubbing is so weird, it doesn't sound like Chinese."

"Xiang Yanzhong and Prince Liang are both played by Korean actors."

"No wonder."

Many people talked about it from time to time.

Then he asked Chen Cheng: "Chen Cheng, what do you think of "The Warring States"? "

"You have already said it very comprehensively. I have nothing more to say."

Chen Cheng didn't say much about "The Warring States".

But the box office of "The Warring States" may not reach 7000 million, just as Chen Cheng said.

Week 1.

The box office of "War of Darkness" was only 2000 million.

When the box office statistics for the first week came out, Han Sanping gave up.

Based on the box office data of 2000 million in the first week, it would be strange if its box office could break 7000 million.

……

"Two movies, which one do you want?"

"The Warring States" had not yet been released, but Han Sanping found Chen Cheng with two films.

Chen Cheng was stunned: "Is there still a choice?"

Han Sanping said: "It depends on the person. I admire your vision."

This is not nonsense.

China Film's business is investment, they generally don't produce by themselves.

What is the most important thing in investing?
That's vision.

The film "Night Banquet" has proved that Chen Cheng has a good vision.

Not to mention.

Han Sanping used another "The Warring States" to verify Chen Cheng once again.

The results are clear.

Chen Cheng has a better vision than him.

"I'll read the script first."

Chen Cheng didn't say much.

Open the script.

The first script that surprised Chen Cheng was "Assembly".

"Is it Director Feng's?"

"Yes, Huayi is the main investor."

"Director Feng just had one failed movie, and Huayi was willing to invest in another one for him."

"If it were any other director, Feng Xiaogang would probably have to wait three years for this box office failure. But Huayi can still afford the loss of Feng Xiaogang's reputation."

"So, Director Han, you also invested in this film?"

"No, it's your choice."

Han Sanping shook his head: "If you choose the assembly number, we will consider investing some."

"Trust me so much."

Chen Cheng couldn't help but say.

"Let's take a gamble. What if your prediction is correct again?"

"Director Han, you investors are really good at gambling."

"Movie making is like this. A lot of times it's not much different from gambling."

Chen Cheng put down the assembly call.

Open another script.

There were three words written on the script: "The Warlords".

Chen Cheng was somewhat tempted.

but.

He still read the script very carefully.

More than an hour later, Chen Cheng said, "Director Han, I choose The Letter of Invitation."

Han Sanping said: "I will tell you the requirements first, and then you can choose."

"Huayi's "Assembly" is not a co-production, but a mainland production. "The Warlords" is a co-production. However, it is called a co-production. As you can see, after the script came out, the director and main actors have been confirmed, and they are basically all from Hong Kong and Taiwan."

Chen Cheng nodded.

There are three main actors in The Warlords.

One is Jet Li, another is Andy Lau, and the other is Takeshi Kaneshiro.

Theoretically speaking, Jet Li is a mainlander.

But in fact, most of his films are invested by Hong Kong and represent the interests of Hong Kong.

Not to mention Liu Dehua.

Takeshi Kaneshiro is from Taiwan and has nothing to do with the mainland.

As for the director.

Also confirmed.

Chen Kexin is a well-known director in Hong Kong.

There is only one female character, Xu Jinglei, who represents the mainland, but she has almost no impact.

From this point of view.

Whether it is the actors or behind the scenes, this film is basically controlled by Hong Kong.

"That is to say, if you choose to pledge your allegiance, your power will be limited, and you may not be able to fully utilize your talents."

Han Sanping reminded Chen Cheng.

"I still choose to pledge my allegiance."

Chen Cheng replied.

"Tell me why."

Han Sanping didn't expect that even after he said this, Chen Cheng still chose to surrender, so he asked.

"There are many reasons. I met with Director Feng last time, and I think he has some opinions about me. Besides, didn't you say that Mr. Wang from Huayi was pissed off by me?"

"It doesn't matter much. A movie is not made by one person, but by a group of people working together. Even if Director Feng has a problem with you, he wouldn't dare to make fun of this movie. As for Mr. Wang from Huayi, although he was irritated by you, he admires your vision even more and wants to work with you even more."

"It can still be like this."

Chen Cheng was stunned.

After thinking for a while, Chen Cheng said, "I don't like Director Feng."

"Well, that's an important reason indeed."

There are conflicts that can be resolved.

But if the conflict reaches the point where you no longer want to work with him, then there is no need to get together.

"In that case, you are now the first assistant director of The Warlords."

Put away "Assembly".

Han Sanping left behind the script of "The Warlords".

(End of this chapter)