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

Chapter 562: Box office hit or Waterloo? (6k)

In addition to filming in Hollywood, Chen Linfeng is also following the progress of "World of Warcraft".

The first version of the script has been sent to him.

Although it was decided early on that the protagonist was just a tool, his identity setting was still changed several times.

From the earliest bard, to the messenger, to the herald, there are all kinds of identities, and correspondingly, there are different ways of entering the main storyline.

Chen Linfeng discussed with the screenwriters in the group many times, and finally decided on the current version.

The setting of the bard is retained here.

I want to witness big events and add material to my own stories to be sung.

This can be regarded as a source of motivation for the protagonist to get involved in various events.

Therefore, the protagonist will be a troublemaker and easily get involved in various incidents.

In the early stage, the protagonist will be used to show some exciting side quests in the Warcraft game.

On the one hand, it shapes the characters, and on the other hand, it gradually unfolds the customs and practices of the world, allowing the audience to slowly integrate into it.

In terms of identity and race, he is set as a member of the night elf tribe. In his early years, he had established friendships with the high-level officials of the human kingdom and was trusted by the Alliance.

From this, the character of the protagonist can also be determined.

He will be a cheerful and outgoing person who likes making friends and often helps others.

The only shortcoming, which can also be said to be a common problem of bards, is that they will make "artistic" changes to the recorded history according to their own preferences.

Therefore, in the movie, after experiencing an event, it will be a highlight to see how he adapts and sings it.

The feeling here is a bit like some historical online articles in the previous life. Things that just happened are briefly retold at the end in the form of historical records, which gives a particularly novel feeling.

In the script, the screenwriters in the company also tried to write a few small paragraphs.

Chen Linfeng looked at these short stories, which were either funny, sad, or tragic, and nodded with satisfaction.

It's still quite good.

"Xiaofeng, have some tea."

Chen Linfeng looked up and saw that it was Xixi.

"Is this the script of World of Warcraft?" Liu Qianqian asked curiously.

"Well, this is the final version of the first draft. I think the degree of completion is very high."

Chen Linfeng raised the script in his hand and asked, "Do you want to read it?"

Liu Qianqian hesitated for a moment, then shook her head and said, "No, I want to wait until the movie comes out before I watch it."

She has now realized that watching a movie knowing the plot is a completely different experience than watching it without knowing the plot.

Therefore, she did not learn about the plots of several recent movies in advance.

As a casual player of World of Warcraft, she is very curious about the new movie.

"How about you give me a brief overview, without spoilers?"

Chen Linfeng just wanted to roll his eyes, "What's the difference between you and Party A who requested colorful black?"

"Okay, let me tell you, the protagonist..."

"Stop!" Liu Qianqian immediately reached out and covered his mouth to stop him from speaking.

The final viewing experience is still important, so it’s better to be patient for now.

Chen Linfeng, whose mouth was covered by physics, was not in a hurry, he just stuck out his tongue.

"Yeah~ I hate it!"

Liu Qianqian quickly retracted her hand and shook it off in disgust.

Time quickly came to July.

The filming of "Infinite World" is progressing smoothly.

A small part of the entire film was shot indoors, so it was possible to set up the scenery.

There is also a part that requires special effects, and green screen is more convenient.

About half of the remaining content will be shot on location.

The most convenient place to film the fairy tale world is Europe.

Prague in the Czech Republic and Slovakia are both great filming locations, with many fairy-tale-like scenes.

We still have to go to Europe to film at that time, and Chen Linfeng has already told Xixi about this in advance.

Sissi naturally wanted to follow him.

Of course, there is no need to rush now.

During her time in Los Angeles, Sissi would occasionally go on shows arranged by the "Taken" crew to help with publicity.

Chen Linfeng sometimes participates in one or two interviews after finishing filming.

The entire film was run according to the normal promotion and marketing model of a commercial blockbuster, so he didn't need to worry too much.

What Chen Linfeng is really concerned about is "Joker".

The movie has been taken off the shelves all over the world, so it's time to prepare for the Oscars.

The movies in the first half of the year are different from those in the second half, so the process of competing for Oscars is naturally different as well.

As for Pitt, he has already sent the film out for review.

As for publicity, we cannot stop. Although the frequency is not high, we must continue to maintain our presence.

Fortunately, the psychological impact that "Joker" brought to the public and the media was indeed heavy enough, and even now, many people are still discussing it.

News about Leonardo DiCaprio's failure to win an Oscar several times often appears in media reports.

This is where the crew is putting their efforts.

The judges haven't given any awards yet, so they should give one this year at least.

It would be best if this kind of thinking could be instilled into the judges' minds. If not, it would at least allow the judges to always have an impression of "Joker" in their minds.

When the actual voting takes place at the end of the year, the seats won't be completely taken up by recent movies.

The impression of Oscar-contesting films released in the first half of the year is easily diluted by the new films released one after another in the second half of the year.

But if the movie is popular enough, people are discussing it in the ears of judges all year round, and it is always in the news reports, the situation will be different.

At this point it is no longer called a fading impression, but a lasting spiritual imprint.

And the Joker has a huge influence, which has another benefit.

That means the chances of the judges having seen the movie have increased.

Normally, many Oscar judges may have watched a few films before voting, mostly those that won the three major European awards and those whose names appeared frequently in the trendsetting films.

From this point of view, "Joker" has a considerable advantage.

High box office has disadvantages, but naturally it also has advantages.

Perhaps it is because Warner Bros. thinks that "Joker" has a good chance of winning an award this year that it is willing to put in the effort.

Various media outlets under Warner have recently commented on the movie "Joker" one after another.

Time magazine named it the most worth-seeing movie in the first half of 2013.

I believe that by the end of the year, there will be a list for the whole year.

This is in line with the continuous face-showing in "Joker".

Alex discussed the ideas of Warner executives with Chen Linfeng.

They want to push for the first superhero movie to win an Oscar. The acting award is one aspect, and they will also try for other awards.

In short, we will invest as much resources as possible.

Media resources are the first step of investment.

At the same time, when Pitt came to promote public relations for "Joker", he tried to borrow Disney's resources.

There was not much resistance during the process, and Disney was obviously happy with this.

When it comes to superhero movies, Disney has the most.

I don’t expect it to be like “Joker”, but at least there can be less discrimination in terms of technical awards.

On the 4th, the premiere of "Taken 2"

As a screenwriter and producer, Chen Linfeng naturally had to show his support.

After walking the red carpet with Sissi and entering the backstage, Sissi, as one of the main creative staff, needs to interact with the guests and the audience on stage with other actors.

He first chatted with some celebrity guests he knew.

After "Joker", Chen Linfeng's popularity has increased dramatically again.

Many celebrities came to show their support just to have a chance to talk to Director Chen.

Rumor has it in the industry that, apart from the main characters, this actor often chooses actors based on personal preference.

That is to say, just pick out the actors you like from those you have seen before.

There are already several lucky ones.

Therefore, they all hope that they will be the next.

I don’t know where this rumor came from.

Chen Linfeng had also heard related rumors.

When a director chooses actors, eye-pleasingness is indeed an important factor.

But the degree of pleasing to the eye is more based on the impression from the previous life.

I guess the people who spread the rumors don’t know this and hope that these people will not be satisfied and then quickly go and cause trouble for that person.

Chen Linfeng, feeling that he had a lot more trouble, secretly drew a circle and cursed in his heart.

On the other side of the city, Pete sneezed violently.

It’s so hot today. Are you catching a cold because you use the air conditioner too much?

Chen Linfeng smiled and exchanged greetings, then sat down in his seat.

"Hi, Chen~"

A voice called out from behind, it was Jon Jashni.

"Oh, Mr. Jon, thank you for coming to the premiere of Taken."

Coincidentally, I met this guy twice, both times at the premiere.

"Chen, can I ask about the progress of World of Warcraft?"

"Of course, the script has been preliminarily completed and is currently undergoing a second round of revisions and logic confirmation."

This is the inherent process of Qilin and Longlin companies. After the script is written, other people will be asked to review the plot.

Make sure there are no serious plot logic bugs.

Especially after discovering that some logic was ignored for the sake of love plots, the relevant review has become more stringent.

"That's good."

Jon breathed a sigh of relief. This year, Legendary Pictures and Warner officially parted ways, and the "Warcraft" project became even more important to them.

He was more worried about what Chen would think because of this news.

Now that he knows that the project is still progressing normally, it is the best news for him.

Chen Linfeng probably understood the other party's thoughts and was afraid that they would not cooperate.

But he has already suppressed a strange creature like Blizzard, so he will naturally not give up just because the relationship between Legend and Warner has broken down.

It is not difficult for him to find a publisher to cooperate with.

But Chen Linfeng couldn't help being curious, so he asked, "What's going on between you and Warner? I only saw random reports in the media. What are the specific circumstances?" Jon also wanted to explain to his partner, so they started chatting.

The feud between Legend and Warner has a long history.

Originally, Legend was actually the financial backer of Warner, and the company was established with the support of a Wall Street fund investor.

After that, a cooperation agreement was signed with Warner, with Legendary taking on part of the investment and Warner handing the project over to Legendary Pictures.

The Dark Knight series, The Hangover series, including Sparta and Clash of the Titans are all products of collaboration.

Nolan said that he was cooperating with Warner, but to be more specific, he was cooperating with Legendary Pictures.

Therefore, when Chen Linfeng and Nolan planned to co-produce a movie, Warner wanted to join and they came to him first.

This is the reason why the relationship between Warner and Nolan was actually a bit awkward at the time.

Let’s get back to the feud between the two companies.

The two sides have collaborated to produce many successful films, but conflicts have also gradually increased.

Both think they are more important and complain that the other always takes all the credit.

In particular, Warner feels that Legendary Pictures' success has, to some extent, sacrificed Warner's interests.

The reason why Legendary's films have such a high success rate is that they can select the best from Warner's film library.

For other similar partners, passive investors have to invest all of them and have no chance to choose.

A vivid example of this is Green Lantern.

When Warner wanted to launch this project, Legendary Pictures did not participate in the investment.

This was certainly a wise choice to avoid losing money, but Warner felt something was wrong.

You will be asked to take part in a profitable movie, but you may not be included in the group when the movie loses money.

This is not what brothers do!
Jon felt very aggrieved about this. "We urged them not to make that film, but they didn't listen at all. We couldn't just step into it knowing it was a trap."

It sounded reasonable, but Chen Linfeng laughed in his heart and didn't respond at all.

What good can Wall Street be?

Don't talk about his stereotype, just listening to Jon's previous description, it feels like Legend earns more.

No wonder Warner is unwilling.

"Of course, the main reason was the internal strife at Warner some time ago. Jeff Robinov, who had always worked well with us, was unable to win over his opponent and resigned. The good cooperation had to be interrupted."

Chen Linfeng knew this. Alex was nervous for a while at that time.

Three senior executives competed for the position of CEO of Warner Bros., and in the end the one in charge of digital home entertainment took the position, while the two in charge of film and television businesses were kicked out.

Chen Linfeng was not affected.

Chen Linfeng's novels are published by Time Warner, and the struggles within its subsidiary Warner Bros. have little impact on him.

Moreover, no matter how fierce the internal struggle is, directors who can make money are still popular.

Chen Linfeng listened to the gossip and smiled in his heart, but on the surface he looked heavy and expressed sympathy and comfort for Jon and Chuanqi's experience.

Then he turned back contentedly and waited for the movie to start.

"Taken 2" is just as tense as the first one.

The scene where Jackie is caught and then relies on his professional ability to calculate his location is so touching that it can even give people goose bumps.

First, estimate the distance based on the time and approximate speed of the vehicle.

Then the car turns, and depending on which direction it turns, there will be singing sounds a few minutes later, and when the car bumps, when the car passes the seaside, there will be the cries of seagulls and the sound of ships' horns.

Turn left and shift the car into second gear. There are birds singing and the sound of a violin nearby.

These are all fully recorded.

This scene is fully shown in the movie, and the audience can clearly notice that the protagonist is recording.

Later, he found a way to contact the daughter of the hotel, asked her to take the map, draw intersections according to the distance, and then determine his own location, which completely confused the audience.

Just like the first film, it’s also about a father saving his family, but it’s managed to create a sense of freshness.

The father still maintains his past professionalism and decisiveness, while the daughter shows obvious growth in this film.

He is brave and decisive, helping his father at the crucial moment, and has also made progress in his skills.

Although it is still a bit clumsy, the process of knocking out two killers looks thrilling and a bit funny.

This brings a sense of satisfaction to the audience from another level.

While watching the movie, Chen Linfeng paid close attention to the demeanor and expressions of the audience.

When the movie ended and the crowd applauded, he knew that he didn't have to worry about the box office.

When the main creative staff went on stage later, Cheng Er insisted on pulling Chen Linfeng up with him.

Chen Linfeng tried his best to refuse his old brother's kindness, but he couldn't resist the repeated persuasion of Fang Long and others, and went up with them.

"Chen, will there be a third movie?"

I knew it.

"If you keep filming the same routine, even if you add new elements, the audience will get tired of it after a while."

"So you're not going to continue filming?" the reporter asked in surprise.

The audience had just finished watching the movie and were in a very excited mood. Someone quickly said, "We are not tired of watching it, let's continue filming."

"Yes, keep filming. We like to watch it."

The choruses rose one after another.

Chen Linfeng nodded at the voice, "Maybe Jackie and CC will appear, but not necessarily as the protagonists. The theme of the movie won't be rescue. We can't always let Jackie rescue his daughter."

He spread his hands helplessly, "Then Jackie is such an incompetent father."

The audience gradually quieted down. According to common sense, this was indeed a lesson that should have been learned.

“In this second part, CC’s abilities have been improved, which is actually laying the groundwork.

In the future, CC may have to face the cruel reality on her own, and it’s time for her to grow up.”

The audience became excited again, as it sounded like there were already plans for the follow-up.

The reporter wanted him to reveal more, but Chen Linfeng was not stupid.

He stopped at the right time and didn't reveal too much.

"Will CC be the core protagonist of the next film?"

"perhaps."

"Is that Jackie and her daughter fighting together?"

"Everything is possible."

Seeing that he really couldn't get anything out of this person, the reporter had no choice but to turn to ask someone else.

"Jackie, do you hope to continue to cooperate with Chen?"

“Of course, as an actor, who wouldn’t want to work with him.”

Van Loon does know about the sequel to the Taken series and that he will no longer be the leading actor.

In the past, he would never agree to such a thing.

But times have changed and Xiao Chen's status has improved greatly now.

So he called him Xiao Chen just because of their past friendship and he had to do it out of necessity.

The core controller of the film has his own plan, and the previous two films have already laid the groundwork.

This plan was not something he could change.

Besides, what Xiao Chen said is right. If we continue to shoot this kind of scene where a father saves his family, the audience will get bored.

Even if some viewers just claimed that they would not get tired of it, he would not take it seriously.

It's normal for a series to go downhill by the third installment.

That's what happened with Rush Hour.

As for the follow-up plan that Xiao Chen told him, he wanted to start with a new series, and then gradually introduce more characters to build a movie universe.

To him, this idea seemed ambitious and promising.

Nowadays, the hottest concept in the global film industry is the "movie universe".

Even though several top directors revealed the drawbacks of an overly large movie universe during conversations, it did not affect the enthusiasm of filmmakers around the world for it.

If the entire series could form a system like a movie universe.

If he can play an important role in it, Fang Long can accept not being the protagonist.

"Taken 1" grossed over 6 million dollars worldwide, which provided a very good foundation for the second film.

Not only that, the videotape market, the first film in the series, was also very popular.

Therefore, a large number of viewers have watched the previous work.

On the day of the premiere, quite a number of fans of these previous films came to watch the movie.

The first-day box office of "Taken 2" reached nearly 9000 million US dollars.

However, in terms of word of mouth, it is not as high as the previous one.

Even though the plot has some novelties and the overall viewing experience is good, there are still viewers online who think that the plot is similar and not as good as the first part.

Fortunately, these people's voices are not very loud, so the impact they cause is not great.

The whole movie is not as long-lasting as Chen Linfeng's previous films, and is closer to a conventional Hollywood commercial film.

Yes, in terms of media opinion, the second film is still regarded as Chen Linfeng’s film.

In the first three days of the weekend, the box office reached 3 million, which is lower than expected, but it is definitely not bad. It is highly likely that the North American box office will eventually exceed 1.5 million.

However, the media reported that "Chen suffered a Waterloo."

For a time, countless Hollywood filmmakers were celebrating.

This kid finally started to slide down!
If he continues to rise like this, perhaps one-third or even half of the top ten global box office records will be his films.

Don’t do that kind of thing!
The news about Chen Linfeng's first setback even overshadowed the news about the huge box office success of the movie "Taken 2".

When various reports reached other countries outside North America, the locals were full of questions.

what's the situation?
Earning $3 million at the box office in three days is already considered a setback?

Chen Linfeng didn't pay much attention to these news reports. They were just the media creating hype.

At most, it caters to some filmmakers and companies.

The release time of "Taken 2" is almost synchronized around the world, but it is a little later in China, which is two weeks apart from "The Accidental Detective".

It is worth mentioning that the box office of "The Accidental Murderer" has exceeded 5 million in two weeks, and it should not be a problem for it to exceed 8 million in the end.

This piece of news is currently being spread more widely in China than the box office hit of Chen Linfeng and others in Hollywood.

It’s no longer news that Xiao Chen’s movies sell well.

In two weeks, "Taken 2" grossed more than $2.6 million in North America.

At this point in the summer season, commercial films no longer have much potential. It shouldn't be a problem to slowly grind it out to $3 million over time.

The film was released in more than 70 countries and regions around the world.

The current box office has exceeded 5 million yuan. If the domestic box office data is included in the future, it will not be a problem for the overall box office to exceed 8 million yuan, but 9 million yuan is a bit uncertain.

Of course, this has been regarded as a major failure for Chen Linfeng.

Congratulations, congratulations.

(End of this chapter)