Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 446 The Rise of a 5 Billion Yuan Film Queen: The Battle of the Lunar New Year Film Season Begins
……

The news of Liu Yifei becoming a 5 billion yuan box office queen has been making headlines for quite some time.

It's really hard to say who she is now in the Chinese entertainment industry!

In terms of age,
Liu Yifei is considered a rising star.
Although Chinese people don't have the same rigid concept of hierarchy and seniority as people in South Korea.

However, some of these ideas from Confucian culture have been passed down, and people still generally respect their elders.

Furthermore, the decline of film studios in recent years has meant that their old habits still influence the industry.

This is also one of the reasons why Liu Yifei, who was far ahead of the others, was still included in the ranking of the four most popular actresses in her previous life. The four actresses, two actresses, and one actress were briefly recognized as the best.

But if we're talking about grades,

Liu Yifei's current achievements are so remarkable that there are no other actresses she can compare to.
From Whiplash to Gravity, she entered Cannes twice and brought back the first Cannes Best Actress award for a mainland Chinese actress, which is comparable to the previous generation of actresses.

But big-budget Sino-US co-productions like The Forbidden Kingdom and Gravity,
In particular, Gravity's box office performance in China, North America, and globally...

With a domestic box office of 1.3 billion yuan, a North American box office of nearly 200 million US dollars, and a global box office of 750 million US dollars,

No Chinese star had ever achieved similar box office results before!

Even Jackie Chan, who was previously the most successful in Hollywood,
Only its North American box office performance was slightly better than Liu Yifei's.
However, Liu Yifei also has her own shortcomings in her career and the Hunger Games series next year, so surpassing Jackie Chan's achievements is only a matter of time.

and,

In the past two years, Liu Yifei has also starred in purely Chinese-language films such as "The Message" and "Forever Enthralled."

Therefore, categorizing her as a Hollywood actress similar to Yang Ziqiong seems inappropriate.

Because Liu Yifei is openly willing to take on Chinese-language films, and even Wong Kar-wai's The Grandmaster is currently being filmed, she shows no disregard for the Chinese market because of Hollywood.

Originally, female stars were subject to age restrictions.

Results are calculated generation by generation.
The previous generation of actresses, including Gong Li, have gradually retired from acting. They are still highly regarded, but their popularity is starting to decline.
Meanwhile, the previous generation of "Four Dan and Two Bing" are becoming the new generation of top actresses, and their status and popularity are at their peak. These years are also the time when they achieve great success.

Who would have thought that Liu Yifei would transition to film in just three years?

It has been steadily climbing a level almost every year.
With her performances as a drummer nominated for Cannes, her role as the King of Kung Fu opening up global markets, and her supporting role in Mei Lanfang receiving critical acclaim, she firmly holds the top spot among young actresses.
Her role in "The Starry Night" swept the global market and the mainland market, allowing her to rival top actresses in their prime. The phrase "Four Dan Actresses, Two Bing Actresses, and One Fairy" gradually became a consensus.

At last,
A gravitational pull sent her soaring into the sky.
It has awards to its name.

It has box office success.

It has influence in mainland China.

It has global influence.

They even own a thriving independent Hollywood studio.

Liu Yifei has walked a very steady path to becoming a 5 billion yuan box office queen, just like a pure all-rounder with no flaws!

Liu Yifei's current status is almost above all other female stars.
However, not every female star can accept being overshadowed by a younger person.

After "Gravity," Liu Yifei received fewer invitations to events, precisely because that position is difficult to secure. A well-rounded individual like Liu Yifei is clearly destined to be a mainstay.

However, this is actually good news for Liu Yifei.

This will allow her to slack off more, focusing only on filming and not needing to worry about extra social activities.

November has passed,
December has officially begun.

This also coincides with the upcoming annual Lunar New Year film season battle.

Although Zhang Yimou was absent from this year's Lunar New Year film season, his film "Under the Hawthorn Tree," which was released in September, managed to gross 1.5 million yuan, proving Zhang Yimou's directing skills and redeeming some of the positive impressions of last year's "A Simple Noodle Story."

But this year there are still three major directors vying for the top spot.
First, there's Chen Kaige's "The Orphan of Zhao" on the 10th. Following Chen Kaige's Tangshi earthquake earlier this year, many people have also developed some expectations for "The Orphan of Zhao".

Then there's Feng Xiaogang's "If You Are the One" on the winter solstice, the 22nd.

And the upcoming film "Let the Bullets Fly" starring Coco Kang on Christmas Eve, produced by Linlang Entertainment, is highly anticipated.
"If You Are the One" and "Let the Bullets Fly" are practically playing a game of cat and mouse, aiming to directly capitalize on three consecutive Western holidays celebrated by young people: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day.
This week is almost the best time to book.

Movies are primarily consumed by young people.

With three consecutive Western holidays, plus Christmas Eve falling on a Friday, Christmas Day on a Saturday, and New Year's Day itself being a holiday, the situation is much better than in previous years' Lunar New Year film seasons.

Weibo.

"Three directors are starting a battle for box office supremacy during the Lunar New Year season. Let's vote and see if your pick for the Lunar New Year box office champion is 'Sacrifice's Orphan,' 'If You Are the One,' or 'Let the Bullets Fly.'"

"It has to be If You Are the One. You can tell just by looking at the trailer. This time, Director Feng has finally figured it out and is going straight for the purest Feng-style comedy. With Xiao Gangpao and Ge You, it's practically the universal formula for the Lunar New Year film season!"

"I also vote for If You Are the One. Although If You Are the One is using the sci-fi craze brought about by gravity to promote itself as a soft sci-fi film, judging from the trailer, this should be Director Feng's funniest movie in recent years!"

"I think it's 'The Orphan of Zhao'. I watched Director Chen's 'Aftershock' three times and cried three times. I have to say, a Palme d'Or director is a Palme d'Or director. His ability to evoke emotions is too high. Now it's not the time to win the box office with jokes. It should be a blockbuster like 'The Orphan of Zhao'!"

"Doesn't anyone think it will be another 'Let the Bullets Fly' scenario? Remember the Siege of October last year? In the end, it was still Linlang Entertainment that had the last laugh!"

"Huayi and Linlang Entertainment are at odds again, but this time the two are much less heated. Unlike last year's 'Back to 1942' and 'The Message,' they won't be released on the same day, which would have been a lose-lose situation for both of them."

The discussion on Weibo is very heated.
"If You Are the One" gained widespread acceptance almost overnight.
After all, this time Feng Xiaogang has made a very serious return to Feng-style comedy. The trailer alone amused a lot of people who used to like Feng-style comedy, which is the foundation of the film.

Secondly, there's *The Orphan of Zhao*, a period drama series that, while showing signs of decline,...

However, public consensus is always lagging behind the market.

In recent years, there has been a surge of period dramas, and even Feng Xiaogang was lured by the market to make The Banquet. Everyone thought that the glory of this genre could last for a long time, but in reality, the period drama genre is now in its twilight.

Almost no one believed that Let the Bullets Fly could win the championship.

Even though this film is directed by Jiang Wen, written by Gu Bei, and features three award-winning actors, and even has a cameo role by Feng Xiaogang from Huayi Brothers, Linlang Entertainment's arch-rival,...

However, the trailer for Let the Bullets Fly still maintains Coco Chiang's style, completely failing to give the audience any idea of ​​what the movie will be about.

Therefore,
Only a handful of people have mentioned "Let the Bullets Fly".

Everyone thought that Let the Bullets Fly would at most achieve a mediocre result of one or two hundred million.

However, the market always surprises us.
The first movie to emerge from the Lunar New Year film season was actually The Laughing Hero, which was released four days before the Lunar New Year season.

This film, produced by Benshan Media, starring Zhao Benshan and Xiao Fengtian, along with some employees of Benshan Media, is like a remake of Zhang Yimou's "A Simple Noodle Story" from last year.

In just one week since its release, it has grossed 60 million yuan at the box office, and this movie is sure to gross over 100 million yuan.

Although it is claimed to have invested 50 million,
However, most of the actors are from Benshan Media, and it's a nonsensical gangster comedy. The 50 million yuan figure is highly inflated, and the 60 million yuan box office in the first week would clearly make the film profitable.

Then,

The Lunar New Year film season has begun.

Chen Kaige's "The Orphan of Zhao" was released.

It grossed 3600 million yuan on its opening day, somewhat reminiscent of the box office phenomenon of "Earthquake in Tang City".

Before the investors—Huaying Cinemas, Stellar Cinemas, and Shanghai Film Group—could be happy, Chen Kaige's old problems once again surfaced with this film.
Sunday's box office, which was expected to easily surpass Friday's, only garnered 3400 million yuan.

Although it broke 100 million in the first three days of the opening weekend.

It ranks third in the history of Chinese films, after Gravity and Aftershock, and was even released half a day earlier than The Founding of a Republic (3.5 days).
But given the current plummeting box office performance,
It is clearly impossible to replicate the miracle of the Tangshan earthquake.

It's just an optimized version of Wuji at best!
……

Kyoto.

The atmosphere in the Chen family is somewhat tense right now.

Because of the box office slump of "The Orphan of Zhao," Chen Hong couldn't help but move around more quietly at home.
Even Arthur, a child, could understand the situation and obediently stayed in his room, rarely going out to provoke Chen Kaige.

"I am back!"

When Chen Kaige entered the house, he found Chen Hong frantically trying to shut down the computer, but because she was unfamiliar with the operation, she couldn't do it successfully for a long time.

"What are you doing?"

Chen Kaige walked over curiously and found Chen Hong reading a film review of "The Orphan of Zhao". He knew from the title that it was criticizing him, because there were just too many such reviews.

However, if it were any other time, Chen Kaige would have already started to get angry.

But today, Chen Kaige smiled and said, "It's alright. Just write these opinions down, and we can make targeted changes next time."

"what?"

Chen Hong, her mind full of cultural knowledge, looked at Chen Kaige with some concern, "You...you're not confused by anger, are you? Actually, you don't need to pay too much attention to these online comments. They're mostly from young people, and some film critics are actually praising you."

"Those are all paid film reviews!"

Chen Kaige said nonchalantly.

He would usually try to save face with these film reviews, but after so many years in the industry, how could he not know which reviews were genuine and which were just positive reviews bought by the distribution company?

After a pause,

Under Chen Hong's surprised gaze,

Chen Kaige then revealed the reason: "I went to Linlang Entertainment and received a share of the box office revenue. Guess how much income Tang City Earthquake brought to my family, including the director's fee and the box office revenue?"

Before Chen Hong could even guess, Chen Kaige said to himself, "Thirty million, just a little short of thirty million!"

"They didn't keep the books?"

Chen Hong blurted out that, as one of the three top directors in China, Chen Kaige, like Zhang Yimou and Feng Xiaogang, could receive box office revenue sharing.

However, the box office revenue sharing figures depend entirely on the investors' conscience.

Hollywood knows how to do accounting, but domestic accounting is even easier than Hollywood's.

However, the 30 million yuan figure for "Aftershock" is basically accurate compared to its 700 million yuan box office.

"Comparing the two films, Aftershock and The Orphan of Zhao, I've figured it out: when making commercial films, I should honestly pursue universal appeal, and when making art films, I should express my own ideas."

Chen Kaige's face showed no trace of the shadow cast by the box office failure of "The Orphan of Zhao," but was filled with the excitement of doubling his assets.

In an era when top-tier celebrities' endorsement fees are barely over a million, the 30 million director's fee made Chen Kaige understand why Hollywood, a capitalist society, is producer-centric—it's all due to the corruption of capitalism!
……

Despite the fact that the two films released at the beginning of December did not receive good reviews.
"The Laughing Swordsman" was too nonsensical, and "The Orphan of Zhao" had an overly complicated plot, causing both films to see their box office numbers plummet afterward.

However, the two films performed quite well at the box office, with two films grossing over 100 million yuan in just two weeks in December.

The entire film market has become quite lively.

The real showdown of the Lunar New Year film season has not yet begun!

……

Huayi.

"It seems that the market environment this year is indeed much more lively. The total box office in mainland China has already exceeded 10 billion yuan, which is another year with an increase of more than 50%."

Wang Zhongjun looked at the newspaper in his hand, smiled, and looked at Feng Xiaogang beside him, "Xiaogang, you said during the roadshow that 'If You Are the One' would break one billion, you weren't joking, were you?"

Feng Xiaogang grinned, smoking a cigarette as he said, "It's not impossible. Anyway, I think my movie definitely deserves a billion yuan at the box office!"

"It's indeed possible!"

Wang Zhonglei said from the side, "Avatar broke 1 billion at the beginning of this year, Aftershock broke 700 million during the summer season, and Gravity broke 1 billion during the National Day season. The box office ceiling in the domestic market has long been opened up. Xiaogang's movies can definitely earn much more than before!"

"The market is indeed booming!"

Wang Zhongjun looked at Wang Zhonglei and nodded in satisfaction. "You've made progress. The Mystery of the Phantom Flame was the second-highest grossing film during the summer season, earning 300 million yuan. Even The Orphan of Zhao managed to break 100 million yuan in three days. It's not surprising that anything will happen during this year's Lunar New Year film season!"

After a pause,

He smiled and said to Feng Xiaogang, "If 'If You Are the One' becomes a huge hit, I'll definitely give you a big red envelope!"

"Hey hey hey!"

Feng Xiaogang smiled smugly, "Recently, with the Lunar New Year film season approaching, Huayi's stock has been performing well. After the Lunar New Year film season ends, it is estimated that it will rise even more."

I'll make a solemn promise: 'If You Are the One' will at least gross 600 million yuan at the box office!'

"well!"

Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei applauded Feng Xiaogang's words, which put their minds at ease.

Most importantly, the quality of "If You Are the One" is indeed quite good. From their perspective, it is basically the culmination of Feng Xiaogang's comedies, and there is no reason why it should not win the box office championship during the Lunar New Year season.

(End of this chapter)