Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 370 Entering the Spring Festival Film Season, Nominations Arrive

After the first wave of the exciting Lunar New Year film season ended, Huang Bo contacted him about holding a celebration banquet.

After a month in theaters, the film grossed 20.11 billion yuan, marking a successful start for domestic films this year.

Jiang Wen's movie is still showing, but it only grosses less than two million yuan a day.

Even a mosquito's leg is meat; Alibaba Pictures bought the movie with a minimum guarantee of 14 billion yuan, and now it's lost everything.

Next, major companies began preparing for the Lunar New Year film season. Huanxi made a big splash, with the movie "Alien," directed by Ning Hao and starring Huang Bo and Shen Teng, starting its promotional campaign. Huang Bo was scheduled to start promoting the film with the crew after the celebration banquet.

Shen Teng also has a strong box office appeal. As the lead actor in Chen Shouzhe's first film, Shen Teng has made a significant impact on the film market over the years.

With two top-tier actors, Ning Hao, and Huanxi's marketing prowess, "Alien" quickly became the most anticipated film of the 19 Spring Festival season.

Secondly, there's the animated film "Zootopia" produced by Little Dream.

When the investment amount was made public, it filled people in the film and television industry with despair, reminding them of WALL-E from three years ago.

"Another $100 million production cost, plus marketing, 750 million..." Huang Bo couldn't help but gasp.

At the celebration party for "Breakup Buddies", Chen Shou took the opportunity to announce the investment in "Crazy Animals" in front of a group of media.

The outside world cares a lot about this animated film, after all, it is to be released simultaneously around the world, which is not a good time to release it overseas.

Little Dream has gained worldwide recognition, especially with Kung Fu Panda going global, which has greatly pleased the top management in China.

It's full of Chinese elements, which is very beneficial to the country's image.

With its special effects and the release of an animated film every year, Little Dream has already gained considerable fame worldwide.

Despite only having two animated films, both achieved extremely high box office results.

"Will Director Chen release an animated film every Chinese New Year season?" a reporter asked.

"Not necessarily. It depends on the production time. Last year, we missed it and Kung Fu Panda wasn't released until June. The production of an animated film can take anywhere from two to three or four years. It's impossible to guarantee that an animated film will be released every year, and the competition during the Spring Festival season is too fierce," Chen Shouzhe replied.

When Chen Shouzhe said there was pressure during the Spring Festival film season, the film and television personnel present rolled their eyes.

There were no movies scheduled, but they insisted on inserting an animated film. There was no prior promotion, and it suddenly burst onto the scene after New Year's Day, making the already chaotic Spring Festival film season even more chaotic.

Everyone thought there wouldn't be any films in theaters this year for the Spring Festival season, but while there weren't any, Little Dream came along.

It's an animated film, with an investment no less than that of WALL-E.

When the movie was announced, countless movie lovers in China were already preparing to go to the cinema with their friends and family.

With the release date being a family-friendly time, wouldn't it be better to take your wife and kids to see an animated movie together?

"Director Chen, the Oscar nominations will be announced today. How many nominations do you think you'll get?" the reporter continued.

The Oscar nominations are on January 22nd, which is today. However, there is a time difference between the two countries; it's the 22nd here, but it's still the 21st there. The nomination list will be announced tomorrow, the 23rd, on the 22nd there.

Those who follow the entertainment industry are naturally also paying attention to this nomination.

After all, Chen Shou had just returned from the United States half a month ago, bringing back two Golden Globe Awards.

Everyone hopes he can win an Oscar and bring glory to the country.

There has always been a strong sentiment towards the Oscars in China. Two years ago, Chen Shouzhe won two Oscars, and this year may be his last chance.

Things started to turn unfriendly over there, and it would be almost impossible to win an award there in the future. Faced with this problem, Chen Shouzhe pondered for a moment. In another world, "The Departed" won four awards and even became the biggest winner at the Oscars that year. Chen Shouzhe chose to make this film for the same purpose.

"The more the better." Chen Shou shrugged, indicating that he didn't know either.

During the subsequent interview, Chen Shou kept steering the conversation toward the movie "Crazy Animals" to promote his own film.

Ning Hao was also giving an interview to promote his movie, and he brought Huang Bo and Shen Teng along.

"Director Ning, your opponent this time is Director Chen. Are you confident?" the reporter asked.

"Did you see that? I have a green dragon on my left and a white tiger on my right. Xu Zheng didn't come today, otherwise you would have carried me on your back." Ning Hao said smugly, with one arm around Huang Bo and the other around Shen Teng.

"Did director Xu Zheng also act in the movie?"

"Yes."

What role did he play?

Ning Hao glanced at Huang Bo and Shen Teng on his left and right and laughed, "You'll know after the film is released. I'll keep you in suspense."

"Are you confident you can go against Director Chen?"

"We're not in the same category. Mine is a science fiction comedy film, while Director Chen's is an animated film."

Actually, Ning Hao wasn't confident either, as this was his first time working on a film for the Spring Festival season.

He is now not only the owner of Monkey Company, but also a major shareholder of Happy. This movie is very important to him, and the shareholders are all watching it closely. They have done their best in terms of publicity and other aspects.

Of course, they wouldn't dare to use unorthodox methods, since their opponent was Chen Shouzhe. If they dared to use them today, their future would be difficult.

Ning Hao originally thought the Spring Festival period would be a good time to release films, because this year, with no films produced by the film studio, forty films were released in quick succession.

That's right, there are forty films in the Spring Festival film season, with twenty released on the first day of the Lunar New Year and more to follow.

No one expected that Chen Shouzhe would still come, and he brought Xiao Xiaomeng with him.

Although Little Dream has been established for many years, it has always been known as a special effects company.

Little Dream has always been invincible in the animated film market, with a huge audience and fan base. How could Ning Hao and his team not be wary of it?

After the celebration banquet ended, related reports appeared on major news websites.

Wanda Pictures was already prepared for distribution, and with Tencent's massive distribution channels and the promotional efforts of short video platforms, various video clips were flying everywhere.

The animated film "Zootopia" has attracted increasing interest from many people, and many children have expressed a desire to see it after watching it.

The adults in the family will naturally consider taking the children to see it, and it's not just the children who want to see it; they want to see it too.

With massive promotion, "Zootopia" surpassed "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" and exceeded 2 million yuan in pre-orders. Some predict that the final box office may break the opening day record and exceed 4 million yuan on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Two weeks before the Spring Festival, the atmosphere was already tense, and overnight, Weibo changed its trending topics.

Chen Shouzhe was bombarded with phone calls early in the morning.

It's no surprise that the Oscar nominations have been announced.

(End of this chapter)