Huayu Entertainment: Who let him be the director!

"Uncle and aunt, you are here."

"Uncle and Madam, thank you for your hard work along the way."

In the following period of time, in addition to his busy daily work, Zhou Qing also had an important task.

Receive relatives from my hometown.

Although there is still some time before the actual engagement, many people in my hometown can't wait any longer.

Especially some cousins, they are all young people who like to play.

I have long wanted to come to Beijing to see the world and broaden my horizons with Zhou Qing, one of the top domestic directors.

Zhou Qing naturally wouldn't refuse.

Anyway, he has several villas and courtyard houses in Beijing.

It’s no exaggeration to say that you can settle down without even having to book a hotel.

"Wow, cousin, this is the house you bought in Beijing. Isn't it too big?"

"What house? This is a big villa!"

"Brother Qing, why did you buy a courtyard house? Do you like living in an old house?"

The relatives were really enlightened.

Following Zhou Qing around the capital, they almost popped their eyes out.

They knew that Zhou Qing had become successful and was a well-known director, but they did not expect Zhou Qing to achieve this level.

He is exactly like the top wealthy people in movies and TV dramas.

"Aunt, your Qingzi is really promising."

"Yes, this child has been smart since he was young. I knew he would be successful."

The looks in the eyes of the uncles and aunts looking at my parents were filled with nothing but envy, jealousy and hatred.

My parents were so proud that the wrinkles on their faces were ironed out.

As parents, their greatest comfort is not how successful they are, but that they have raised a good son like Zhou Qing.

The situation is similar with Liu Yifei.

Some close relatives also began to arrive in Beijing one after another.

However, the girl was busy filming for the "Painted Skin 2" crew, so it was basically Liu Xiaoli who was in charge of receiving guests.

Sometimes when Liu Xiaoli is too busy, Zhou Qing will go along with her.

Anyway, we have come to the stage of discussing marriage, so I am not an outsider.

"The Flowers of War was released nationwide, grossing 6.09 million yuan at the box office. Zhang Yimou is still the same Zhang Yimou!"

"Master Zhang's masterpiece, The Flowers of War, sold 6.09 million yuan, becoming another hit in 11."

"Xu Ke's 3D martial arts masterpiece "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" grossed 6.48 million yuan at the box office, second only to "Your Name."

"The box office of 'Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate' surpassed 'The Flowers of War' and ended perfectly with a box office of 6.48 million yuan."

On December 12, Zhang Guoshi's "The Flowers of War" and Xu Ke's "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate" were both taken off the screen, and their total box office revenues were also announced.

Among them, "The Flowers of War" earned a box office of 6 million yuan, becoming the highest-grossing work in Zhang Guoshi's career.

This is nearly 2 million more than the 4 million yuan earned by his previous commercial film "The Monkey King ".

Judging from the data alone, "The Flowers of War" is undoubtedly very successful and a well-deserved hit.

After all, although Director Zhou has raised the ceiling of Chinese-language films to 14 billion, 6 million is still a mountain that many people can only look up to.

The entire Chinese entertainment film industry can be counted on one hand.

Putting aside the films directed by Director Zhou, there are only "Aftershock", "Let the Bullets Fly" and "Beijing Meets Seattle".

"The Flowers of War" is the 4th part!
Although the total box office is less than half of Zhou Qing's "Your Name", it cannot be denied that this movie was indeed a hit.

Still a huge explosion.

But Master Zhang really couldn't be happy.

Firstly, he was really far behind Zhou Qing and was defeated miserably by him in another confrontation.

Secondly, the cost of "The Flowers of War" is really a bit high.

Although the box office revenue reached 6 million, don’t forget that the cost of producing “The Flowers of War” was also as high as 6 million!

This means that "The Flowers of War" will need at least 18 billion yuan to make its investment back!

But is it possible for a movie to have a box office of 18 billion yuan in today’s Chinese-language film market?

Naturally impossible.

Therefore, when "The Flowers of War" was filmed from the very beginning, it was aimed at the global film market.

In other words, the overseas box office of this film is very important and it needs to sell as well as "Hero".

This is also the real reason why Zhang Guoshi chose Bale, a Hollywood star, to be the leading actor.

But what about in practice?
"The Flowers of War" suffered an epic flop overseas, earning only US$32.

That’s right, not 3200 million, nor 320 million, but 32!
It was so tragic that it made people stunned and unbelievable, and it was so tragic that it seemed like a joke.

Producer Zhang Weiping himself joked that the North American box office revenue for "The Flowers of War" was not enough to even cover the cost of Bale's plane ticket.

The distributor was so scared that it chose to withdraw the film and postpone its release in North America.

But everyone knows that although the sales of a movie are somewhat related to the release date, a movie with a box office of only 32 has definitely nothing to do with the release date.

It's the same whether you change it or not.

Changing is just deceiving yourself.

Right now, "The Flowers of War" has only one chance to make a comeback, and that is to win a big award at the Oscars!
The Film Bureau has already announced that Zhang Guoshi's "The Flowers of War" will be submitted for the 84th Academy Awards.

He will represent the mainland in competing for the Oscars to be held in February next year.

Success or failure can be said to depend on this one move.

But Zhou Qing, a person who has been reborn, knows that "The Flowers of War" also suffered a miserable defeat at the Oscars.

Not to mention winning an award, there wasn't even a nomination.

This movie directed by Zhang Guoshi was a real loss-maker.

Of course, the one who suffered the loss was not Master Zhang himself, but Zhang Weiping of New Picture.

There are many different opinions on the specific reason why the two Zhangs broke up directly after this movie, but it is definitely related to the huge losses of "The Flowers of War".

The situation with "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate", which was released on the same day, was completely the opposite.

The film's total box office surpassed "The Flowers of War" in one fell swoop!
Although Xu Ke is also a well-known top director, there is undoubtedly a big gap between him and Master Zhang.

But now he has defeated Master Zhang in a head-on confrontation, which makes Xu Ke feel really refreshed.

Even if we put this point aside, the 6.48 million yuan of "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate" is still a very explosive box office.

Directly entered the 6 million box office club!

A real explosion.

It is worth mentioning that the total box office of "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate" at this moment is 6.48 million, which is higher than the box office of 5.39 million in the original time and space.

The main reason is that the female lead was replaced by Liu Yifei.

Liu Yifei is very supportive. She announced her relationship when "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate" was just released.

It contributed a huge amount of traffic to "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate".

This is why "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate" achieved a box office of over 6 million yuan.

So what is the cost of "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate"?
Although it is not low, it is as high as 2 million.

But compared to the 6 million yuan of "The Flowers of War", it is a small one.

What is more critical?
"Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate" has already achieved profitability.

This is just looking at the mainland box office. If you add in all other kinds of revenue, it's definitely a lot of money.

A huge success!

It is no exaggeration to say that "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate" was a huge success. The leading actress Liu Yifei once again became a big star, attracting many envious and jealous eyes.

Liu Yifei really won big in this year's Lunar New Year box office.

A movie called "Your Name" with a box office of 14 billion yuan was released just now, and right after that, another movie called "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate" with a box office of 6 million yuan was released?
Good guy, what a good guy.

Liu Yifei is truly the box office queen!

Is it true that every movie he stars in is a hit without exception?

Even if it is not a movie directed by Director Zhou, it can still get a super high box office!
numb.

I don’t know how many people are numb.

Especially those female stars.

They found that Liu Yifei's record was so exaggerated that she was completely on a different level from them.

"Congratulations, Sissi, for starring in another hit movie."

How could Zhou Qing not express his opinion on such a thing? He made a special phone call to congratulate Liu Yifei.

"It's all because of your good taste that you helped me choose a good movie."

Liu Yifei's voice was very cheerful, and it was obvious that she was in a very happy mood. She also praised Zhou Qing by the way.

This girl's words definitely come from the heart.

In terms of the vision for accepting films, she and Zhou Qing are really far behind.

Take the movie "A Chinese Ghost Story" that she was optimistic about at the time, for example. Its box office revenue was only 1.3 million yuan in the end.

But what about "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate" that Zhou Qing personally chose for her?

It directly reached more than 6 million.

The gap is so obvious.

"My vision is not as good as yours. You spotted me at first sight among the vast crowd of people."

Zhou Qing teased the girl with a smile.

"Who fell in love with you? Didn't you fall in love with me first?"

The girl started to act arrogant, seeming to have forgotten that she was the one who confessed in the first place.

"Really? Who asked me if I liked her at the airport? Who was it? Why don't I remember?"

"Is that true? I don't know who it is, but it's definitely not me!"

Liu Yifei would never admit it even if she was beaten to death.

"By the way, have you told Wu Ershan?"

After chatting and laughing for a while, Zhou Qing and Liu Yifei got down to business.

The engagement is on the 28th, so the girl naturally has to ask Wu Ershan for leave again. And it can't be just one day, it has to be at least two or three days.

Although the two families decided to keep the engagement ceremony low-key and simple without making a big fuss, it is impossible for them to arrive only on the day of the ceremony.

You have to be prepared.

Fortunately, Zhao Liying is currently starring in "Painted Skin 2", so Liu Yifei is relatively free.

Even on the film set, I'm basically idle, with no serious work except for the occasional scene.

Otherwise this matter would be really difficult to handle.

"Don't worry, I've already told you that I'll catch a flight back tomorrow."

Liu Yifei gave Zhou Qing a positive answer.

Zhou Qing had an idea in mind and began to make corresponding itinerary arrangements.

"Director Zhou, Director Nolan agreed!"

Not long after finishing the call with the girl, Director Yang called and told Zhou Qing the good news.

Nolan ultimately failed to resist the temptation of the Interstellar script and agreed to Zhou Qing's request to insert the person.

Of course, this is only one factor.

Nolan also personally watched some of Liu Yifei's films recently and made the decision only after he had enough understanding of Liu Yifei.

In Nolan's eyes, Liu Yifei is definitely not as suitable as European and American actors, and her acting skills are just so-so.

As for her face, well, aesthetic standards in China and the West are different, and Nolan didn’t think Liu Yifei was that pretty.

To put it simply, in Nolan's film, Liu Yifei is just an okay actor.

But considering that the copyright owner and the investor have inserted the people, it is already pretty good enough.

At least they didn't stuff in any that's unbearable to look at.

Then Nolan could only refuse with tears.

But now?

After some hesitation, Nolan finally chose to compromise.

There's no way, the script is really to Nolan's liking.

Moreover, Director Yang told Nolan that if he didn't agree to Director Zhou's request, he would shoot the film himself. Nolan really felt a huge threat.

Because Zhou Qing himself is also a top director!
Even judging from his current resume, Zhou Qing is even better than Nolan.

Although Nolan's box office success is much better than Zhou Qing's, don't forget that the Hollywood environment is different from the Chinese entertainment environment.

If Zhou Qing really goes to Hollywood, it's hard to say who will have higher box office.

So it is unfair to compare the box office of Hollywood movies and Chinese-language movies.

But awards are different.

Among the Big Three, there is no difference between Hollywood and Chinese films.

But what is Nolan's record in the Big Three?

What is Zhou Qing's record in the three major battles?
He was even nominated for an Oscar.

So when Zhou Qing said he wanted to shoot "Interstellar", it was not just talk.

Nolan was really afraid that Zhou Qing would suddenly change his mind and shoot the film himself. If that happened, Nolan would have no place to cry.

"Then I'll leave this matter to you, let's officially start moving forward."

Zhou Qing responded to Director Yang calmly and confidently.

It doesn't seem like this is a big deal.

In fact, to Zhou Qing, this is really nothing big.

"By the way, how's the discussion about The Hunger Games going?"

Zhou Qing also did not forget to ask about "The Hunger Games".

"The basic intention has been determined, and Lionsgate is very optimistic about the potential of The Hunger Games."

"But they are currently busy with the acquisition of Summit Entertainment, and have not had time to discuss the details yet."

Director Yang reported to Zhou Qing truthfully.

"Let's put The Hunger Games on hold, or we can discuss it first, but don't rush to move forward with it, at least until next year."

After a brief thought, Zhou Qing gave Director Yang such an order.

It’s not that Zhou Qing doesn’t attach importance to "The Hunger Games", but he is really too busy at the moment.

You should know that the acquisition of Summit Entertainment will be completed soon, and then "Twilight 4" will be launched.

At present, "Gravity" has not been completed yet, and "Interstellar", a collaboration with Nolan, has also made substantial progress.

In addition, Zhou Qing also has plans to start a co-production film next year, which will definitely be mainly produced by Crown Pictures.

These are enough to make Crown Pictures suffer, so how can they have the energy to push forward "The Hunger Games"?
Anyway, the adaptation rights of this novel are in my hands, so there is no need to be so anxious if it’s a moment earlier or later.

"Understood, Director Zhou."

As a worker, Director Yang naturally obeyed his boss's orders. (End of this chapter)