Huayu Entertainment: Who let him be the director!

"Sure enough, Operation Mekong flopped, and the main theme is still not good."

"Based on the current box office performance, Operation Mekong is bound to lose a lot of money."

"Operation Mekong failed, so we'll have Director Zhou's Operation Red Sea to look forward to."

It is worth mentioning that when "Time Raiders" was taken off the screen, "Operation Mekong" had already been launched.

This main theme movie, which was not favored from the beginning, performed as badly as everyone predicted.

The cost was as high as 2 million yuan, directed by a famous director from Hong Kong, and starred by top star Zhang Hanyu and popular idol Eddie Peng.

The lineup in front of and behind the stage can be said to be very luxurious and eye-catching.

But what kind of results did this team deliver?

The film was released on September 9, and the box office on the first day was only 13 million RMB, less than 3893 million!

It only earned 1.65 million yuan at the box office in the first weekend!

Judging from the current box office trends, it would be good if "Operation Mekong" could earn 5 million yuan at the box office.

But the cost of "Operation Mekong" is as high as 2 million!

This means that at least 6 million will be needed to recover the investment.

With a box office of over 5 million, it can’t even cover its costs.

It’s no wonder that there are boos everywhere in the circle. The early data of "Operation Mekong" is really too bad.

The only consolation is that the word of mouth for "Operation Mekong" has been overwhelming.

Everyone who has watched "Operation Mekong" in the cinema has given it extremely high praise.

The extremely high reputation is constantly brewing and fermenting among movie fans, and the "tap water effect" is slowly taking shape.

And when this fermentation reaches a certain extent, it will explode and be reflected in the box office!
It's just that no one sees this now.

"Operation Mekong's box office wasn't very good."

As the director of "Wolf Warrior", Wu Jing expressed deep concern about this.

Although his "Wolf Warrior" is not quite the same as "Operation Mekong", it is also a true main theme blockbuster.

Standard military action theme.

Now that the situation of "Operation Mekong" is so pessimistic, how can Wu Jing not be affected?
"Operation Mekong has just been released. Isn't it too early to criticize it now?"

Zhou Qing smiled, and was still very optimistic about the prospects of "Operation Mekong".

“Do you think Operation Mekong can still make a comeback?”

Wu Jing's expression changed immediately when he saw Zhou Qing's confident look.

"Who can say for sure about this? But I think that true gold is not afraid of fire, and an excellent movie like Operation Mekong will not be buried."

Although Zhou Qing did not give a direct answer, his tone was still quite confident.

As a person who has been reborn, he clearly knows that "Operation Mekong" was indeed not good in the early stage, but it exploded during the National Day holiday.

Achieved a gorgeous box office comeback!

So Wu Jing’s worries now are completely unnecessary.

"I hope so."

Even though Zhou Qing had always had an extremely accurate vision, it was impossible for him to dispel Wu Jing's doubts with just one sentence.

Wu Jing was still a little unsure.

But now that "Wolf Warrior" has been filmed and the finished product has been released, it's too late to say anything.

You just have to go ahead with it, right?
I can't care about so many other things.

"Okay, I won't waste my time talking to you anymore. Let's go watch your Wolf Warrior."

Zhou Qing just waved his hand and greeted Wu Jing.

Now that Wu Jing’s “Wolf Warrior” is out, of course he wants to go see it.

Even though the post-production period of "Operation Red Sea" was very tight, it was not to the point where we couldn't spare even an hour and a half to watch the movie.

"not bad!"

After watching the film, Zhou Qing couldn't help but nodded. Overall, he was quite satisfied.

There is no need to say much about Wu Jing's directing skills, especially after "The Man from Nowhere" and the two "Unforgiven" films, he has become much more mature and fluent.

In addition, Zhou Qing also "polished" the script of "Wolf Warrior".

At this moment, the quality of "Wolf Warrior" is much higher than the original.

Coupled with the previous "Operation Mekong", it won't take long to change the industry's view on mainstream movies.

Zhou Qing believes that the prospects for Wolf Warrior are still relatively bright.

Wu Jing was quite excited when he saw that Zhou Qing was optimistic about "Wolf Warrior".

He began to discuss the release schedule of "Wolf Warrior" with Zhou Qing with great interest.

However, when Wu Jing heard that Zhou Qing planned to release "Wolf Warrior" a month before "Operation Red Sea", he panicked.

This is not a good thing for "Wolf Warrior".

Imagine that two main-theme movies are released at the same time during the Lunar New Year holiday, one in November and the other in December.

The November photos were taken by Wu Jing, and the December photos were taken by Zhou Qing.

Then most people will probably skip Wu Jing's "Wolf Warrior" and directly choose Zhou Qing's "Operation Red Sea", right?

Since they are all films of the same subject matter, of course we should choose a more reliable director, right?
Of course, it is possible to watch both movies, but most people will only choose to watch one during the Lunar New Year holiday, right?

What's more, even for those viewers who watch multiple movies, how likely are they to choose to watch two movies of the same theme?

"Director Zhou, please put Wolf Warrior aside for next year. I won't be in it this year."

After some thought, Wu Jing told Zhou Qing his thoughts and concerns.

Zhou Qing thought about it and found that what Wu Jing said actually made sense.

After a moment's hesitation, he agreed to Wu Jing's request.

We plan to put "Wolf Warrior" on the schedule for next year.

What time period?
Without a doubt, it’s the summer season.

Nowadays, the films released by Zhou Qing Pictures are basically designed to be released during the hottest time periods such as the summer vacation or the Lunar New Year holiday.

Unless there are special circumstances, we will consider the slightly weaker period such as the National Day.

But the box office potential of "Wolf Warrior" itself is not weak, so it will definitely be released during the summer vacation.

To be more specific, it will be delivered in August.

Because there will be many big movies released in June and July next year.

Among them, the main competitor in June is the Hollywood blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean 6".

The film was released on May 5 and grossed 26 billion RMB.

The total box office of "Wolf Warrior" in the original time and space was only 5.5 million yuan, which was naturally not enough, so it had to leave.

So what about July?
Even more cruel.

The "Transformers" series, which has always been very popular in China, is back again.

The fifth film in the series will be released on June 6. Although the word of mouth is terrible, it still grossed 23 billion yuan in the mainland.

In addition, "Despicable Me 7" was released on July 7, and its total box office also reached 3 billion.

There is also a movie called "The Monkey King" which was released on July 7 and it also earned 13 million yuan at the box office.

So it’s really not a good idea to go in July, as Wolf Warrior is really no match for it.

Only August can be selected.

In fact, Zhou Qing Pictures releases so many movies a year, and there are only so many good schedules.

For example, if there is only one Hollywood blockbuster released in June, you can still give it a try.

But although the box office potential of "Wolf Warrior" is good, it is not that good.

However, Wang Baoqiang's "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 6" can be sent to June.

The box office potential of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 3" is much higher than that of "Wolf Warriors" and it is also a comedy with a relatively high acceptance rate.

It is also a completely different genre from its main rival, Pirates of the Caribbean 5. The impact is not that great.

After a simple calculation, Zhou Qing made the decision happily.

Wu Jing naturally had no objection. He chatted with Zhou Qing for a few more words and then left contentedly.

As for Zhou Qing?

Needless to say, let’s continue working on the post-production of “Operation Red Sea”.

Since Zhou Qing has chosen to release the film in mid-December, that means he needs to have the film ready before mid-November.

Time is still quite tight.

Therefore, Zhou Qing had already instructed Director Chen not to bother him with trivial matters unless necessary during this period.

The same is true for Crown Pictures, owned by Director Yang.

However, there weren't many things at Crown Pictures that Zhou Qing needed to worry about, and Director Yang only reported some necessary situations.

For example, the release of "Maze Runner 2".

The film is not big and the finished film was released last month.

The scheduled release date is October, and the promotion is currently in full swing.

In the original time and space, the box office of "Maze Runner 2" suffered a huge drop, and it would not be an exaggeration to call it a Waterloo.

The most important thing is that the reputation has collapsed.

But now?

This did not happen.

The script of "Maze Runner 2" was written by Zhou Qing himself, so the quality of the film will definitely be much better than the original.

In addition, the first part was the same and accumulated a certain number of fans.

Zhou Qing believes that the box office of "Maze Runner 2" will be good no matter what.

I can’t say it will be more popular than the first part, but at least it is impossible for the same kind of failure as in the original time and space to happen again.

Zhou Qing is quite confident about this.

"Wang Baoqiang's first directorial work "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 2" has finished filming. Wang Baoqiang can't hide his excitement when he talks about his feelings as a director for the first time."

"'Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons' held a wrap party, Chen Sicheng and Huang Bo showed up to support their friend."

At the end of September, Wang Baoqiang's "Journey to India" was completed, and unsurprisingly attracted a lot of attention.

The circle's attitude towards this film remains the same as before, with no change.

People generally don't have high expectations for the quality of the film.

But as for the box office prospects of the film, I think we can still look forward to it.

After all, the cast and crew of this film are indeed luxurious, and it looks pretty good.

As the director and leading actor, Wang Baoqiang has no other feelings except excitement and anticipation.

"Being a director is not an easy thing. I realized this more after I became a director myself."

Wang Baoqiang, who returned to Zhou Qing Pictures, made such an exclamation in front of Zhou Qing.

Before, when I saw other people directing, I didn’t think it was a big deal, and I even thought I could do it too.

Even when he joined the crew to learn from Lu Yang and Wu Jing, Wang Baoqiang didn't think being a director was difficult.

But when he really started directing, Wang Baoqiang realized that he was wrong.

How wrong.

Being a director is definitely not an easy thing.

Looking back on the months he spent filming in India, it can be summed up in a few idioms.

I feel overwhelmed, confused and exhausted.

If he had not made long and extensive preparations in advance and had not gone to the crew for an "internship", Wang Baoqiang couldn't imagine what his film would turn out like.

"This is your first time as a director. Take your time. Being a director is not an easy thing."

Zhou Qing smiled and encouraged Wang Baoqiang.

Looking at the light in Wang Baoqiang's eyes, Zhou Qing knew that Wang Baoqiang had not given up yet, or that he had not yet had enough.

However, this time, "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 3" made him fully realize that he was not ready yet.

Even if Wang Baoqiang still intends to be a director, he will not try it rashly.

Instead, we will prepare more fully in advance.

"Yes, Director Zhou, I still have a lot to learn. I'm really far behind now."

Wang Baoqiang nodded heavily, deeply agreeing with Zhou Qing's words.

This is Wang Baoqiang’s strength. He can face and acknowledge his own shortcomings, and he has the courage to acknowledge his own shortcomings.

Unlike some directors who clearly made bad movies but refused to admit it and instead put the blame on the haters and rating platforms.

He even organized an expert seminar to discuss how good his film was, just like a clown.

Wang Baoqiang even went to receive the Golden Broom Award in person.

With this attitude, he is far ahead of others.

It is precisely because of this attitude that Wang Baoqiang’s second film, “Octagon Cage”, has made a qualitative leap, right?

So whether you have talent or not is really not that important, a sincere attitude is the killer skill.

"Director Zhou, do you have any suggestions for the post-production of 'Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons'?"

After sighing, Wang Baoqiang humbly asked Zhou Qing for advice.

No matter how chaotic the filming was, "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 2" has been completed.

The next most important task facing Wang Baoqiang is the post-production of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 2".

"The later stage is also a complicated matter..."

Zhou Qing briefly talked to Wang Baoqiang and gave him some suggestions.

Wang Baoqiang felt that he benefited a lot.

"Director Zhou."

Not long after Wang Baoqiang left, Director Chen knocked on Zhou Qing's office door and reported to him an extremely important matter.

"You asked me to pay attention to ByteDance before. They are indeed planning to develop a music creative short video software called A.me."

A.me?

Zhou Qing's eyes immediately lit up when he heard this.

This thing is the predecessor of Douyin.

How could Zhou Qing, a reborn person, miss something like Douyin?
Director Chen has long been keeping an eye on ByteDance's every move.

Just waiting to get in when the time is right and get a piece of the pie like investing in Weibo.

And now is undoubtedly the most appropriate time.

"This is your most important task right now. Go talk to them. I want to buy shares in A.me! The more shares the better!"

Zhou Qing immediately gave such an order to Director Chen.

"Understood, Director Zhou!"

Director Chen immediately took the order and left.

Although he didn't know why his boss was so optimistic about A.me, Director Chen believed in Zhou Qing's vision.

Just like Weibo in the past.

At that time, so many platforms were doing Weibo, even Penguin was doing it, so the advantage of Sina was not that great.

But Director Zhou resolutely chose Jiulang.

What was the final result?

The old Sina Weibo is the only one that survived, all the other Weibo accounts died on the beach!

Director Chen believes that since Director Zhou likes this A.me, then this software must have something special. (End of this chapter)