Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 445 Achieving the 5 Billion Yuan Film Queen Status: Huayi Brothers' Desperate Counterattack Against Gu Bei During the Lunar New Year Film Season

"Who? Me?"

Liu Yifei asked, somewhat confused.

It's unclear whether she was confused by Gu Bei's kiss or by the question itself.

"Yes, it's you!"

Gu Bei smiled and looked at her, "Gravity's global box office has exceeded 7.5 million US dollars. If you calculate the exchange rate, that's a full five billion Chinese yuan!"

"so many!"

Liu Yifei couldn't help but be a little surprised.

She had only been paying attention to domestic box office, North American box office, and some scattered overseas box office figures. Each number didn't seem that big, so how did they suddenly add up to a box office of 5 billion?

"How could there not be many?"

Gu Bei smiled and said to Liu Yifei, "When your 'The Forbidden Kingdom' was released in 2008, its total box office in mainland China was only 43 billion yuan."
Last year, in 2009, box office revenue increased by more than 50%, and there were even rumors that it was surpassing Titanic. However, the total box office revenue in mainland China was only 66 billion yuan.
With the support of internet subsidies from group buying this year, the total box office in mainland China has just exceeded 10 billion yuan.

Your part of gravity,
This is equivalent to 1.1 times 2008.
0.75 times 2009,
And half of this year's total box office so far!

Liu Yifei only felt a sense of reality after hearing Gu Bei's words.

Five billion in box office revenue,

For the film market of this era
That's an incredibly outrageous number, enough to drive anyone who knows anything about the film industry crazy!
Liu Yifei shook her head and looked at Gu Bei: "This should be your movie!"

She was very clear that in a movie like Gravity, the director was the core of the entire film, and the acting was just one of the tools the director used to express his inner thoughts.

"What do you mean 'your Extra' and 'my Extra'? This is clearly a product we made together!"

Gu Bei said to Liu Yifei with a smile.

"How can it be so high?"

Liu Yifei still seemed somewhat incredulous.

"Let me show you!"

Gu Bei showed Liu Yifei the report sent by the distribution manager, "We still mainly rely on the Chinese mainland and North American markets."

Now, mainland China is only one step away from reaching two hundred million US dollars, and it is basically able to reliably break through two hundred million US dollars.

The North American market, however, has stagnated at around $170 million, with virtually no chance of breaking through $200 million.

But the remaining French, British, and small-scale projects each have over forty million US dollars.

South Korea and Russia have over 30 million US dollars.

Excluding overseas markets in China and the US, the total is approximately $3.9 million.
Including the $3.6 million from China and the US,
It just broke the $7.5 million mark.

Gu Bei looked at the box office figures and a thought struck him.

Compared to the original Gravity, it grossed approximately $1 million less in North America, but $1.2 million more in mainland China.
Box office figures in other overseas regions varied, but overall remained largely unchanged from the original Gravity film.
That's how we got the current figure of $7.5 million!

The decrease in North American box office revenue and the increase in China box office revenue were both within Gu Bei's expectations.

However, the difference in overseas box office was not significant, which gave Gu Bei a different idea. It meant that Chinese films, by putting on a Hollywood skin and using Hollywood's channels, could also reach the world.

There are quite a few hands and feet that can move around in this!

"Hehehe~"

Liu Yifei smiled innocently.

Subsequently,

She rolled over to grab her phone: "I'm going to brag about this to Changchang and the others."

Gu Bei didn't stop her, but only reminded her, "Remember not to show off too much. She had a perfect start, but in the end, Meteor Shower still took away the summer ratings champion."

As the first major drama to take over the time slot after the World Cup, "Scarlet Heart" certainly had an excellent start, with its first-day viewership rating exceeding 2%.

This result would have essentially secured its place as the top-rated local TV station this year.

But no way,

Who told "Scarlet Heart" to coincide with "Meteor Shower"?

This drama, which brought Zheng Shuang fame, achieved a viewership rating of 2.45, dethroning the perfectly-started "Scarlet Heart" and becoming the highest-rated local TV station during the summer season and even throughout the year.

I still think Scarlet Heart is better.

Liu Yifei couldn't help but mutter to herself.

Aside from helping Shu Chang promote the show when it premiered, she followed almost every update of "Scarlet Heart" from beginning to end, making it one of the few dramas she's been able to watch from start to finish.

After all, she is a very empathetic and immersive person, so when watching TV series, she feels a sense of time distortion, which she dislikes. She usually just reads books and watches movies.

The more popular Meteor Shower was not worth watching for her; she'd rather read more books.

"But TV dramas with better universal appeal tend to be more popular, just like commercial films are more successful than art films. It's the same principle."

Gu Bei said lightly.

The current viewership ratings for "Scarlet Heart" are somewhat lagging, and it's also significantly less effective at attracting new users to Linlang Video.

However, the long-tail effect of the drama "Scarlet Heart" is very strong.

This is a drama that, even fifteen years later, can still support film and television commentary content creators, with hundreds of thousands of views per episode. This demonstrates the immense long-tail effect of "Scarlet Heart."
Tong Hua poured almost all her talent into this novel; her later works were progressively worse and more biased.

With the improved production of Linlang Entertainment, this version of Shu Chang's "Scarlet Heart" is expected to have an even stronger long-tail effect than the original!
……

Weibo.

The official Gravity account, which had been quiet for a long time, suddenly posted a Weibo message: "Gravity's global box office has surpassed $7.5 million!"

A simple paragraph of text,
The accompanying image shows Liu Yifei embracing a space station that appears to float, much like an embryo inside its mother's womb.

"What's going on? This account has come back to life. The last time it was posted was when the box office in mainland China broke 1.2 billion yuan. How come it's suddenly posting again?"

"It should have been released on Little Days. I remember it did pretty well, taking the top spot at the box office for a week."

"His life is so pitiful. Every time a movie is released with him, it's like this. But what's the point of this $7.5 million? It's not like it's a big round number." "I just pressed the calculator. 7.5 multiplied by 7 equals 52.5, which means Gravity has grossed over five billion worldwide!"

"It seems that's true. The exchange rate isn't 7 now, but it's almost broken the 5 billion mark!"

"Empress Qian is awesome! She has achieved the feat of becoming a 5 billion yuan Best Actress!"

……

Tianya Forum.

"As a gathering place for Liu Yifei's haters, let's all share our thoughts on how Gravity's global box office has surpassed 5 billion?"

"Grab the second floor!"

"Still trying to steal her away? Who said Tianya is a gathering place for Liu Yifei's haters? I am Qianhuang's most loyal fan. Welcome Liu Yifei to Tianya Forum, the forum that is most loyal to her!"

"Hilarious! Are the poster and the person upstairs from Linlang Entertainment? I'd say they're totally slapping their knees in disbelief!"

"Strictly speaking, gravity is still something that those directors liked to play with before, with Chinese elements and a Western core. However, Director Gu is really awesome. He was able to combine these two completely unrelated elements through aerospace, which can be called a revolutionary movement in the Chinese film industry!"

"The sheep movement is so apt. Actually, the story of gravity isn't very entertaining, it's neither Chinese nor Western, but the special effects are truly in a class of their own, comparable to Avatar. Just looking at the special effects alone is enough to recoup the cost."

"Gu Bei has paved the way for this. A while ago, a new movie source code project was approved. China Film Group, Linlang Entertainment and Rose Pictures are co-producing it, and they are making two versions of the same script."

The only downside is that the director is a newcomer, but he's also one of the directing team members for *Gravity*. This low-budget sci-fi film is still worth looking forward to.

……

Huayi.

"Gu Bei is such a damn good at making money!"

Feng Xiaogang stared at the three large characters "5 billion" on the newspaper cover and couldn't help but gasp.

He originally had a sliver of hope for this Lunar New Year film season, and wanted to take revenge on Gu Bei, hoping to eliminate Gravity and Avatar directly.

Now he was truly convinced: "I'm not going to compete with him anymore. This year, all I need to do is crush Gu Bei's 'Let the Bullets Fly' during the Lunar New Year season!"

Feng Xiaogang never held a high position in the team from a young age, so he was very good at changing his stance according to the wind and didn't have any particular obsessions.

Upon witnessing the achievement of Gravity's 5 billion, he immediately forgot about the grudges against 1942 and The Message from the previous year, and instead chose an acquaintance, Jiang Wen, as his opponent.

Although Jiang Wen is highly accomplished in art films, and was even the person who had the greatest influence on his decision to change his career path,
However, in the realm of commercial films, "If You Are the One" remains Feng Xiaogang's magnum opus of comedies.

Feng Xiaogang is not afraid of anyone!
Even with Gu Bei and Jiang Wen coming together, it was no use; that's how confident they were!
"This year's Lunar New Year film season depends on you, Xiaogang!"

Hearing Feng Xiaogang's confident tone, Wang Zhongjun smiled and looked at him, "The two biggest films in this year's Lunar New Year season are your 'If You Are the One' and Coco Chiang's 'Let the Bullets Fly'."

Xiaogang, you also had a cameo in Let the Bullets Fly, and both films share the same lead actor, Ge You. This Lunar New Year film season is essentially an internal battle between you and Ge You. We have no reason to lose to Linlang Entertainment!

"That's true!"

Feng Xiaogang nodded confidently.

"Why did you go when Jiang Wen asked you to make a cameo appearance? It was such a big gimmick, and Gu Bei really made a fortune!" Wang Zhonglei said with some regret.

"If Jiang Wen dares to ask, then of course I dare to go!"

Feng Xiaogang grinned, "I read the script for Let the Bullets Fly. Although it's not bad, it's still Jiang Wen's rambling style. It's impossible for Gu Bei to suffer a huge loss like the Sun Also Rises this time, but at most he can only break even."

"That's good!"

Wang Zhongjun nodded with satisfaction.

Huayi's stock has been declining for a year. Due to the loss of its leading position, no amount of positive news can stimulate the stock price to rise.

Fortunately, Feng Xiaogang is still in the Lunar New Year film season this year. Feng's comedies should have no problem defeating Jiang Wen's big-budget art films; it's just a matter of how much they win.

Thinking of this, Wang Zhongjun felt much more at ease!
He turned to look at everyone: "Let's talk about the 5 billion yuan for Gravity. This is indeed a remarkable achievement, making Gu Bei and Linlang Entertainment a lot of money."

However, this is also good news for us. Lionsgate, with whom we have a partnership, is preparing to collaborate deeply with us to create a series of films similar to Gravity.

"Brother, this is great news!"

Wang Zhonglei's spirits immediately lifted. He, who had been staring intently at the newspaper, began to excitedly express his opinion, "This is our chance to break into Hollywood. Wasn't it because of Hollywood's special effects technology that Gu Bei was able to support the movie Gravity?"

"It is indeed an opportunity."

Wang Zhongjun nodded, "I was talking to people from Lionsgate. Actually, The King of Kung Fu has the potential to become a force to be reckoned with, but the director had the final say on the film, and the result was not satisfactory."

As for the Kingsglaive, which is currently being filmed, Lionsgate only asked us to make a financial investment.

If we're going to collaborate on something like "Gravity," we can't just invest a small portion of the money like we did with the other two films. Lionsgate wants us to share the funding and creative direction, which means we have to bring in some investment from Huayi Brothers.

"penguin!"

Wang Zhonglei blurted it out.

As members of the Gu Bei Victims Alliance, Tencent has been working closely with Huayi since the beginning of Tencent Weibo, and has already planned to make a strategic investment in Huayi.

However, Huayi's stock price was not good that year, which led to the two parties failing to reach an agreement on the price.

"That's right!"

Wang Zhongjun nodded and looked at everyone present, all of whom were senior executives with considerable influence within Huayi. "This meeting is to ask for everyone's opinions."

Is that even a question?
Since Linlang Entertainment rose to prominence, Huayi has basically been suppressed and beaten.
From Feng Xiaogang, Huayi Brothers' leading director, to the Lunar New Year and summer film seasons, the company's strategy of producing high-quality films has almost completely outclassed Huayi Brothers' current film slate.

And starting with the grand opening act of the year...
The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3 won the championship as the opening drama of the year.
Scarlet Heart ranked second in both summer drama ratings and annual viewership.

Linlang Entertainment doesn't have the same dominance as in the film industry, but it was Hunan TV that lost to it. As for Huayi's television division, it was still completely crushed by Linlang Entertainment!
With Tencent becoming a major shareholder of Huayi Brothers and sharing funding and creative control with Hollywood's Lionsgate, it's not impossible for Huayi Brothers to return to its peak!
"Since everyone has reached a consensus, then let's make it a decision!"

Wang Zhongjun nodded in satisfaction. Despite being suppressed by Linlang Entertainment for at least a year, the morale of Huayi's executives remained high. This would be Huayi's moment to launch a desperate counterattack against Gu Bei.

Subsequently,

He turned to Feng Xiaogang and said, "Xiaogang, I plan to discuss the financing price with Tencent after the Lunar New Year film season. This year's Lunar New Year film season is all up to you!"

"Don't worry!"

Feng Xiaogang exuded confidence, declaring, "There can only be one champion for this year's Lunar New Year film season, and that's my 'If You Are the One'!"

(End of this chapter)