Huayu: As a child star, I just want to be famous

Chapter 556 Pacific Rim
"Are you sure everyone will attend?"

Chen Linfeng was extremely surprised. He thought that this show of getting something for nothing would never have any follow-up.

"Well, after I told you last time, the progress wasn't very good. I thought it was going to fail, but I didn't expect it to change now.

I guess it’s because of the success of Joker that those old guys got interested.”

"That makes sense."

Chen Linfeng asked, "Have you confirmed the time and place?"

"The timing will have to be coordinated slowly, and it will definitely be after you finish filming Sherlock."

"Okay, I understand."

After noting this matter into his schedule, Chen Linfeng continued filming as usual.

According to the outside world, the box office of "Joker" is still maintaining normal growth.

In late May, after a full month of release in North America, "Joker" had grossed $5 million in North America and over $3.7 billion worldwide.

At this point, there are still many countries and regions where the film is still being shown and has not been taken down, so it will not be a problem for the final box office to exceed 12 billion.

What’s more interesting is that Iron Man 3 had already grossed over $10 billion at this point, reaching nearly $11 billion.

There is little difference in the statistics between the two films.

Although "Iron Man 3" was released later than "Joker", it was released in many countries around the world, so the remaining box office potential of the two is actually very close.

The final outcome still left a slight suspense.

These two movies can be regarded as classic examples of bundling marketing. When movies of such large scale come together, it is easy for both sides to suffer losses.

But now it seems that they do complement each other.

Throughout the month, global media reported on the rivalry and competition between the two films.

The public just likes to watch this and ignores the information of other movies.

"Fast & Furious 5", which was released in late May, was significantly affected.

During this period, what made Chen Linfeng most happy was that there was no trouble in the United States.

At least no one was killed, which is cause for celebration.

He doesn't care about those small-scale demonstrations, which are a daily occurrence in Emily Ken. The media don't care about them and only mention them sporadically.

In early June, Chen Linfeng secretly returned to China without anyone noticing.

The media couldn't know his exact wrap time in advance, so they couldn't catch him this time.

It's not that he has to be sneaky, it's just that the news in the country is a bit too hot.

He was abroad and often heard Xixi talking about this on the phone.

The crew of "Shu Mountain" is almost becoming a seminar group for "Joker".

The latest global box office of "Joker" is released, with a box office of 12.3 billion US dollars, temporarily leading the global box office list.

"Iron Man 3" barely made over 12 billion, and its box office potential has been basically exhausted.

At this point, the outcome of the battle was finally determined.

Iron Man, the rich second-generation, is ultimately no match for Arthur, the poor man from the bottom of society.

On the one hand, domestic media were excited about the news of "Joker"'s victory.

In addition, Chen Linfeng made another movie with a box office of over 10 billion US dollars, and two consecutive movies entered the top ten of the global box office history list, which is too exaggerated.

This time, domestic netizens were a little better. They were not as excited as the last time "Inception" was released. They were just paying attention to the box office progress on a daily basis.

But the industry's reaction this time is different from last time.

When we last made Inception, to be honest, domestic filmmakers didn’t have a sense of reality.

But this time is different. What does it mean to produce movies worth more than 10 billion US dollars in a row?
Nowadays, almost all well-known filmmakers are praising Chen Linfeng to the media.

Zhang Guoli: "It's not easy for Director Chen to work hard in Hollywood. His current achievements mean that he has become one of the world's top directors. If he is considered a new generation director, even the word 'one of' can be removed."

Tang Guoqiang: “When I was filming with Director Chen, I thought that this young man would definitely become a good actor in the future.

But I never imagined that he would make such rapid progress after he started directing.

At this point, it may be difficult to find a better director in China than him. Congratulations to him for his new film's box office exceeding $12 billion."

Yu Shengming: "I first filmed Journey to the West: The Sequel" and The Lotus Lantern with him. Other actors would usually take a break after filming.

He was the only one who always liked to follow the photographer to see how they filmed, and from time to time he would learn from other members of the crew.

At that time, I felt that this child was a very motivated one, so I deliberately allowed him to watch and learn as he pleased, as long as he did not disturb others.

Now, in the blink of an eye, he has reached this point..."

Zhang Yimou: "Xiao Chen is very intelligent in directing. He can learn the strengths of different directors and digest them quickly. I am not surprised that he has achieved what he has today."

Jiang Wen: "Xiao Chen is awesome!"

"..."

Since Xixi was not at home, Chen Linfeng went directly to where his parents lived.

"Yo, the big star is back."

Ms. Wang Yanping rarely treated her youngest son kindly and even mocked him.

"Mom, what's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong?" Ms. Wang said calmly, "I'm a very busy man. I don't see anyone for a whole year. I can't even see him during the Chinese New Year. It's amazing."

She said giving a thumbs up.

Chen Linfeng was ashamed, "It's my fault. I will definitely not do this next year."

Regardless of whether it can be done or not, the promise must be made quickly.

Sure enough, Wang Yanping still loved her youngest son, and her expression soon softened.

Since the recent news was so hot, she asked curiously,

"The movie you shot recently, called Joker, is said to not only sell well, but also win an Oscar?"

Chen Linfeng thought for a moment and said, "It's possible, but the Oscars are mainly for Leonardo, oh, the leading actor of Joker."

Mother Chen waved her hand and said, "I know, Jack Leo. Your father and I went to see Titanic."

"Ah?" Chen Linfeng was surprised, "Why don't I know?"

Ms. Wang rolled her eyes at him and asked, "Do we have to let you know that we're going to see a movie?"

She continued what she had just said and asked, "Why should we fight for the award for Leo, but you don't want it?"

"For Oscar awards, those who focus on public relations are more likely to win. I had said to Leo at the beginning that he would help me in Berlin and I would help him in the Oscars."

Wang Yanping nodded as if she understood.

"Besides, Leo has always wanted to win an Oscar for Best Actor. He has been pursuing it for many years. He must help people realize their dreams."

"Yes, I saw it on the news. Just because of playing the role of Jack, he has been looked down upon by the judges. It's really pitiful."

Wang Yanping tried hard to keep up with the topic, and for this purpose, she learned a lot about her son's movies.

Of course, because she mostly gets her information from entertainment news, a lot of what she says is far from the truth.

Chen Linfeng did not correct her and continued to agree with his mother.

Not long after, Chen Shantong returned home.

"Oh, there are guests at home."

Chen Linfeng rolled his eyes. The two of them were indeed husband and wife; they always mocked people in the same way.

Wang Yanping was unwilling to do so. "Go away. Your son is home. What nonsense are you saying?"

Chen Shantong: "..."

But since his wife had spoken, he naturally changed his attitude.

"Joker" did well at the box office, which really made your father proud."

"Not bad." "I read your script for 'The Biography of Emperor Zhaolie of the Southern Song Dynasty'. It's quite exciting. When are you going to start filming?"

"Probably in September or October," Chen Linfeng explained, "I'm going to Hollywood to film soon, so I have to wait until I'm almost done. By then, when the crew starts filming, I'll be able to keep an eye on it."

When he said the last sentence, he suddenly lowered his voice.

Chen Shantong understood what he meant, glanced at Wang Yanping who was busy in the kitchen, and whispered in the same voice,

"Okay, that's just in time for the script to be further improved. I'll be ready by then."

"What are you two talking about? So sneaky."

Wang Yanping happened to be carrying out a plate of sliced ​​apples and saw this scene.

"No, it's nothing."

……

I stayed at home with Ms. Wang for two days.

Then, before he was suspected of being disliked, Chen Linfeng left first.

He went to visit Liu Xiaoli, and then went to Pingshi to find a wife.

Perhaps due to the pressure of film costs, Xu Ke's level of dedication to "Shushan" is obviously different from the past.

In order to present better visual effects, he not only used special effects, but also spent a lot of effort to find suitable exterior locations.

Strange peaks, stone pillars, ancient bridges, small towns, and only those places that look like fairyland.

Chen Linfeng provided a lot of suggestions here.

He had watched a lot of related videos in his previous life, and some of the beautiful scenes really had a natural flavor of Chinese fairy tales.

For the entire month before this, the crew of "Shushan" was almost always on location shooting.

We have only finished shooting half of it now, and have just come back to make some adjustments. It will probably take another month before we have to finish the shoot.

"Xiaofeng, here~"

As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the Film and Television City Hotel, he saw Liu Qianqian waving at him from afar.

It was a very hot day in June and there were not many people around, only Zhang Xin followed.

Chen Linfeng waved his hand to ask Luo Lin to stop the car, and then quickened his pace.

"Aren't you guys filming right now? Why did you pick me up at the hotel? I was thinking of going to the crew to take a look."

He looked her up and down and saw that Sissi was not wearing any costume, just casual clothes.

"I'm filming someone else's scenes. I'm taking a break these two days."

Liu Qianqian explained, and then asked, "Has Sherlock Holmes finished filming?"

"Well, I asked the director to concentrate on filming my scenes first, and then I came back."

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Chen Linfeng naturally raised his arms so that Xixi could easily hold him.

"I went to see our mother yesterday. I heard that she found a few good seedlings and planned to train them to become dancers."

"I heard about it too. They said that their secondary account was ruined and they had to change their account and start over. I don't know where they learned this weird stuff from."

"So tide?"

"That is."

……

Chen Linfeng couldn't stay in Pingshi for too long.

With the summer vacation approaching, he has a lot to do.

"The Accidental Murderer" directed by Shen Ao will be released in the summer. This is not a big deal, as he is just a screenwriter.

Although he was listed as the producer, he was not involved much in the promotion except for confirming the final edited version.

Taken 2 is different.

The first film in the series grossed $6.4 million. Such a heavyweight movie must be taken seriously.

The specific publicity work started last month.

Just taking advantage of the fame of "Joker", they focused on marketing Chen Linfeng's identity as a screenwriter and producer (essentially), and directly told the public that it was a Chen Linfeng movie.

Fang Long’s name is not as effective as his now.

Of course, kung fu superstars have their own position among the core audience group.

There is also Liu Xixi, who has starred in both hit TV series and high-grossing commercial films in recent years.

Its global influence cannot be underestimated.

Therefore, during the promotion process, the distributor emphasized the two main actors on the one hand, and also enlarged and bolded the names of the screenwriter and producer on the other.

It's just a pity for Cheng Er, he has to be a tool to the end.

But he didn't care much about it. To be a serious director of such a world-famous series of movies, it would be a great qualification.

Chen Linfeng took a rough look at this year's summer movie season and found almost no movies worth paying attention to.

He looked through all the movies that were going to be released in the schedule, and found that there were few that he had heard of in his previous life.

"World War Z" and "Logan" are somewhat threatening.

The rest, like Will Smith's "After Earth" or Roland Emmerich's new film "White House Downfall", the director of "2012", have received a lot of publicity.

But he didn't take it seriously.

There should have been another "Pacific Rim" during this period.

But how could Chen Linfeng miss this kind of movie with huge mecha themes that makes men excited?

It’s such a pity for this movie in its previous life.

The producer Legendary Pictures and the distributor Warner Bros. split (terminated their partnership) on the eve of the film's release, resulting in a serious lack of publicity and promotion for the film, which only grossed $1 million in North America.

Fortunately, the overseas box office was strong, earning $300 million, which was enough to barely launch the second film.

In fact, if the North American box office does well, it is entirely possible that it will further boost overseas box office.

That’s not all. When it came to the second film, because the previous work failed to recoup the investment, the producers lacked confidence and reduced the production costs.

The core director was also replaced.

As a result, the reputation of the film collapsed and there was no sign of subsequent works.

In Chen Linfeng's opinion, "Pacific Rim" has the potential to become a famous IP series.

Therefore, he asked Summit Entertainment to find Director Toro early on and invited him to cooperate.

Chen Linfeng has a good reputation in Hollywood. He was very friendly to creators of the "Twilight" and "Hunger Games" series.

So Director Toro decisively accepted the olive branch.

When discussing the film's plot in the early stages, he accepted some of Chen Linfeng's suggestions and made some changes.

As a result, the project and filming of the film were postponed, and it is estimated that it will not be released until next summer.

Let’s talk about this year’s summer season.

In order to help market "Taken 2", Chen Linfeng thought of the forum chat show that Sister Mei mentioned to him.

Since it is a chat among filmmakers, a senior filmmaker in the industry like Van Long will surely have a chance to make an appearance.

In order not to make his purpose appear too clear, he also asked Sister Mei to ask if Zhang Yimou could be invited along.

Obviously, these two people have great international reputations. After consulting other directors, the program team agreed to this proposal.

Not only that, the other party also proposed to add a few people, and Nolan, Tom Hanks, Leonardo and others were confirmed to enter.

A program that was supposed to make money out of nothing has transformed into an exchange meeting for the world's top filmmakers.

(End of this chapter)