Chinese Entertainment: Directors Start with the Fairy Sister

Chapter 66 "The Stone" Profits Hugely, Liu Qianqian's Role

The box office for "Stone" continues to soar.

The box office jumped to 11 million on the second day, and on the third, fourth, and fifth days, the daily box office never fell below 10 million.

It wasn't until the sixth day, when Mission: Impossible III was released, that the box office barely dropped to eight million.

Even so, during the entire seven-day Golden Week holiday, "Crazy Stone" grossed nearly 7000 million yuan!

Although it hasn't broken 100 million yet, it's clearly a done deal.

With the critical and commercial success of "Crazy Stone," Ning Hao's name has appeared on various news pages, and a new director with a box office of over 100 million yuan is about to be born.

Meanwhile, news came from Yinghuang that "Stone" had grossed nearly two million at the box office on its opening day in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Without any advertising, it's already quite impressive that they've achieved this much based solely on the posters and screening schedule.

Yinghuang is unlikely to lose money on this 500 million, but making a profit will probably not be easy.

However, Zhao Yanxi also knew that it was only because Yinghuang still had some connections there that they were able to do some publicity work; otherwise, they probably wouldn't have achieved such box office success!

After the May Day holiday, representatives from China Film Group, Ningbo Film Group, and Wanda Group came to sign the investment agreement, and Zhao Yanxi also submitted the script for review.

With Han Sanping involved, the review process shouldn't be slow.

However, for "Painted Skin", the script and investment are only the first step.

Big-budget fantasy films can't be prepared in just one or two weeks like "Stone" or "First Love".

Special effects, costumes and props, "painted skin" production, styling team...

This film has high requirements for art design. Fantasy and magical films, in particular, require extremely high visual effects.

The visuals should present a classical charm, as well as a fantastical, hazy, and dreamlike quality, and a sense of eeriness and terror from demons.

Regarding the art design, Zhao Yanxi directly entrusted the work to the two preview screening venues. They were absolutely the most professional, top-notch, and experienced in terms of color and environment.

As for costumes and props, Zhao Yanxi didn't rely on anyone else; the company could handle it all itself.

However, in order to prevent the appearance of something ugly like the "folded-ear cap" similar to the Japanese military cap in the original work, Zhao Yanxi specially invited an expert in Han Dynasty clothing archaeology from the Institute of Archaeology to serve as a consultant.

We strive to ensure that all the actors' costumes are in the style of the Han Dynasty, including the black armor worn by Wang Sheng and the leather armor made of tanned cowhide that protects the chest and back of the soldiers.

In addition to the costumes for other actors and extras, the cost of costumes, props, and accessories alone exceeded eight million.

Chen Jiashang made "Painted Skin" with only HK$8000, but look at what they were wearing.

Chen Jiashang's folded cap, the soldiers' chainmail...

It's obvious they haven't specifically studied Han Dynasty clothing; instead, they've directly adopted the designs of the most common Japanese designers in China.

This isn't a common problem for Chen Jiashang. From Zhang Yimou's "Hero" to "House of Flying Daggers," and this year's "Curse of the Golden Flower," and Feng Xiaogang's "The Banquet," he has used Japanese costume designers.

If top directors are doing this, others will definitely follow suit.

After all, that way they could directly borrow the props from before, thus saving a lot of money.

Although Zhao Yanxi doesn't need to save this money, these props aren't disposable. If the company shoots other Han Dynasty-themed dramas in the future, or if other production teams need to shoot, these props can be rented out directly.

As of the 9th, "Crazy Stone" has grossed 86 million yuan in mainland China and 14 million yuan in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

With this, the total box office of "Stone" in China has officially exceeded 100 million yuan!

With a budget of 4.5 million, the box office exceeded 100 million, a 20-fold return, making countless people in the industry envious.

Ning Hao's name also appeared on major news pages along with "Crazy Stone".

Even the Beijing Film Academy posted a brief message on its official website: "Congratulations to our outstanding graduate, director Ning Hao, on his commercial film debut, 'Crazy Stone,' surpassing 100 million yuan at the box office!"

"I didn't even get an outstanding graduate award while studying at the Beijing Film Academy, but I never expected to become one after graduation!"

"Who told you to be so outstanding~"

Zhao Yanxi mimicked the tone of Teacher Dabing from the Spring Festival Gala and replied to him.

"The publicity is almost done. When are we going back to Beijing to throw a celebration banquet?"

Forget it.

Ning Hao shook his head and refused outright: "I'm already getting annoyed to death outside."

"If I were to throw a celebration party, those people would drive me crazy. Now that I'm done with this busy period, I'm planning to take my wife out for a while to relax and see if we can find some inspiration for our next project."

"good!"

It would be great if Ning Hao could work harder. It seems that the honor brought by breaking 100 million in box office revenue can indeed make people temporarily forget their dreams of pursuing art.

"When you get back, I'll come over and give you a small bonus~"

"Hey, thanks, boss!"

After breaking 100 million views in nine days, many industry insiders were still hoping that "Stone" could break new records. Unfortunately, staff from Enlight Media told Zhao Yanxi that pirated DVDs of "Stone" had already appeared on the market, and pirated resources were also appearing online.

Once piracy is released, box office revenue is basically at its limit, and then it will plummet rapidly.

If there are big-name stars involved, some fans can gradually contribute to the box office, or if it's a special effects blockbuster, the big screen can better showcase the advantages of special effects, and it can barely survive despite piracy.

Films like "Crazy Stone," which rely solely on their plot for success, typically see their box office plummet from seven figures to six figures the moment pirated copies are released.

It won't be long before it's taken off the screens.

Many companies in the industry are keeping an eye on Zhao Yanxi; there have been numerous people coming and going from Ningying and China Film Group in the past few days. (Painted Skin)

The news could not be hidden.

The news that the investment was in place spread quickly.

"Rejected again?"

"Um.

Wang Zhonglei nodded with a gloomy expression. Time and time again, Zhao Yanxi was really taking Hua Yi too lightly!

Could a dilapidated state-owned enterprise like Ningying possibly be more powerful than Huayi?

"We've always given him plenty of face when he organizes events. Last time, when he organized a premiere, he made them come along to support him. That was really too ungrateful of him."

"Then teach him a lesson!" Wang Zhongjun said calmly.

"What do you mean, brother?"

"Liu Yifei!"

Wang Zhonglei was stunned for a moment, then asked in surprise, "Brother, what's the use of targeting a female celebrity?"

"If a director sleeps around with a few actresses, even if it gets out, it probably won't be a big deal, right?"

"But Liu Yifei only came of age last year," Wang Zhongjun sneered. "It's one thing to have unspoken rules applied to female celebrities, but it's a different story when they're underage."

"Perfect timing! Liu Xiaoli didn't want to join Huayi Brothers, so let's show her that without a powerful agency backing her up, this entertainment industry isn't so easy to navigate!"

Although Zhao Yanxi didn't want to hold any public auditions, he really had no clue how to come up with a suitable role out of thin air.

Therefore, Zhao Yanxi directly announced the requirements for the various roles in "Painted Skin" on the company's official website and blog.

Xiao Wei, Wang Sheng, Pei Rong, Pang Yong, Xia Bing, Xiao Yi, Xia Hou...

Artists in the industry look at the role requirements, match them with the roles they feel are suitable, and then submit their resumes.

After the two assistant directors reviewed it once, Zhao Yanxi would review it a second time. If there were no problems, they would either confirm the casting or proceed with the audition process.

In Japan, Liu Yifei looked with great interest at the role requirements announced by Zhao Yanxi.

Liu Xiaoli, sitting beside her, looked at the report and asked curiously, "Is it really a cost of 1.6 million?"

"Yes," Liu Yifei nodded, "The actual filming cost was eight million US dollars. Another eight million was used for special effects, and two million was for production costs and director's fees."

"That's really tall!" Liu Xiaoli exclaimed.

Having just won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, Zhao Yanxi is already taking on such a large-scale production, demonstrating her growing success in the film and television industry.

"What kind of role do you want? Could you play a lead role?"