In the following weekend, both practitioners in the film and television industry and the general public who were interested in "Youth" were unconsciously staring at the daily box office data of this movie.
After 17 million on the first day, the single-day box office of "Youth" increased to 21 million on Saturday, July 10. Then, on Sunday, another 16 million was collected. In three days, this campus youth film once again created a genre first in the mainland, and its cumulative box office quickly reached 54 million yuan.
Obviously, the improvement in word-of-mouth has stimulated the box office. The complete opening weekend figures are higher than the 40 million to 50 million box office initially expected by Jinshu. This means that the film’s box office in the first seven days will also be higher than expected. Reaching more than 80 million.
With more than 80 million in the first week, the film's total box office will obviously not only exceed 200 million, but will obviously be even higher.
In addition, based on the current 40% share ratio that producers can get from theaters, "To Youth" has recovered 20 million yuan in production costs in just the first three days. It is expected that within a week, the film will recover all production and promotion investment and enter a profit cycle.
If it is a Hollywood blockbuster that costs hundreds of millions of dollars to produce, or a Lunar New Year bonus movie that many people only watch once a year, it is not too surprising that the box office can exceed 200 million. But, what's going on with "To Our Mortal Youth" now
Beijing.
There is a China Film Jinshu Cinema near Dongzhimen in Chaoyang District.
The time is July 13th.
Tuesday.
Wang Da and Wang Er, the founders of Huayi Brothers, specially came to watch the first screening in the morning. They followed the flow of people and walked out of the screening hall together. Wang Da was looking at the audience around him, quietly analyzing the composition of the movie-watching group, while Wang Er was Thinking while walking.
After leaving the theater, he went to the underground parking lot to pick up the car and took another look at the huge "Youth" poster above the roadside theater sign. Wang Er, who was in the passenger seat, finally spoke first: "I don't think the movie itself is too special. The places are all those things on the college campus, which we have experienced back then. Oh, to be honest, watching this movie really made me miss my college life back then. However, I think, Jinshu The best thing this time is marketing.”
The two brothers started their business by opening an advertising agency. Although a lot of business comes from connections, they have studied this.
Wang Da listened to what his brother said, nodded, and added: "It's precision marketing. You should have noticed that the people watching the movie just now are all young people, maybe office workers, but they are generally no more than 30 years old, which happens to be Currently, they are the group with the greatest movie consumption power in China.”
Wang Er also agreed, and continued: "Also, those songs are the finishing touch. Have you noticed that Jinshu's works in recent years are all paired with excellent theme songs? This is also a success. a key."
"This is not a problem," Wang DaDao said: "There are still many outstanding songwriters in China, as well as in Hong Kong and Taiwan. If we want to do it, as long as we spend money, we will definitely be able to make a good soundtrack."
When Wang Da said this, the two brothers suddenly fell silent.
After initially joining the line of the Jinshu series, Huayi Brothers has produced several TV series in recent years, with both losses and profits, and the overall income is pretty good.
Of course, advertising is definitely not as good as in previous years.
The problem is that the collapse of Giant Group two years ago became a watershed in the era of domestic barbaric marketing. On the one hand, the advertising industry is shrinking, and it is no longer as easy as in previous years to receive orders and make a lot of money. On the other hand, the advertising companies that can survive are becoming more and more professional, and it is difficult for the grass-roots teams who have become a monk to survive. . Furthermore, the brothers have almost all the connections and resources they could recruit. Whether it is the LOGOs of state-owned giants such as Bank of China or State Power, it is impossible for them to design them again.
Anyway, it’s impossible not to transform.
It just so happens that the development momentum of the film and television industry has been rapid in recent years. Not only has the TV drama industry continued to open up to the private sector, but with the further popularization of televisions and the development of cable TV, the market size has also increased significantly.
Furthermore, the film industry, which almost hit rock bottom a few years ago, is now recovering rapidly.
Especially for movies, the changes in recent years are simply eye-opening. Just a reform of online ticketing has suddenly made the box office, which was so bad, suddenly surge again. Compared with the past, there are now several movies with box office exceeding 100 million every year. In fact, you can imagine how ruthless the box office of theaters in various places was due to rampant piracy in the past few years.
Under such a trend, there is no need to hesitate on how Huayi should transform.
The brothers walked and chatted along the North Second Ring Road to the vicinity of China Film Headquarters in Haidian District.
The time was less than a quarter past eleven in the morning, which was still a bit early. After parking the car, the brothers found a coffee shop and sat down to continue the topic.
Wang DaDao: "Actors are not the problem, the key is the director. We have no chance with the several pillars of Jinshu, whether it is Zhang or Feng, or Cao Jingchu, who recently became a blockbuster with "To Youth". However, a few days ago, Hong Kong Didn’t representatives of the film and television industry just come to Beijing to petition? Hong Kong is one direction. The film industry there has been developing for decades and has accumulated abundant talents. Also, just like Cao Jingchu this time, he came from the Hollywood exchange study program. The first batch came out in 1997, and the second batch from last year has recently come back. There are 30 people in both batches. It is impossible for Jinshu to eat them all, so we can also get in touch with them."
Wang Er listened to what his elder brother said, nodded slightly, and added: "Actually, there is no shortage of filmmakers in the country. There are so many film studios in the country, and I can definitely pick out a few. The key is the concept of the film. If you want to make money now, you have to do it." Commercial films can no longer be the same as before.”
"Forget it," Wang Da shook his head and said: "Our money is not brought by the strong wind. If they can't turn around, they will be useless. With them, they are not as good as those young people who came back from Hollywood. Jinshu dared to write "To Youth" "For a newcomer who has only made a few short films, we need to be more bold in this aspect."
After chatting like this for half an hour and finalizing some details, the brothers settled the bill and drove to a hotel near the China Film Headquarters.
Today is also a big day in the film industry.
The long-prepared "Chu and Han" trilogy officially held a launch conference at the China Film Headquarters in the morning. This press conference has nothing to do with the Wang brothers, but they found some connections to get the invitation letter and join in the excitement of the press conference and luncheon at noon.
In fact, this matter can be considered a hot topic in the circle.
The main reason is that China Film has always shown its dominance over the "Chu and Han" trilogy. Just like this press conference, it is said that Zhang Guoshi wants to hold the opening ceremony at Jinshu Film and Television City in Suzhou, after all, the film will start shooting there.
It happens to be nearby.
But China Film Group disagreed. You can't let a group of leaders go to Suzhou, right? What's more, it's Jinshu Film and Television City. When the news comes out, what will the public think? Will they be confused about whose project this is
So we are still here in the capital.
The problem is, which company is the real leader of this project? In fact, everyone in the circle knows it well. Of course, no one would say it, after all, everyone gets what they want.
The Wang brothers entered the hotel banquet hall. It was about ten minutes before the luncheon started. The guests were almost here, and there were more than a dozen tables full. According to etiquette, the two of them did not go to their seats immediately, but first went to greet the senior executives of China Film and Jinshu and the protagonists of the banquet.
Needless to say, the top executives of the two companies said that not many of the main creators of "Chu and Han" attended the banquet. The large forces had already been preparing in Suzhou, so only a few people, including Zhang Guoshi and several male and female protagonists, were present. .
Speaking of which, the four male and female protagonists at the core of this project can be regarded as the most envied objects in the current circle, especially among actors.
The film's creative team spent a long time selecting the film, and it was rumored that it was finally confirmed after another big shot on the other side of the Pacific approved it.
The first is Liu Bang.
After a long discussion, we finally decided on Uncle Dao Ming.
Because of "Hero", Uncle Dao Ming, who was previously only famous in China, also showed his face internationally. However, it was still because of "Hero" that all parties were entangled. Uncle Dao Ming has already played the role of the First Emperor in "Hero". Is it appropriate to let him play the role of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty who overthrew the Qin Dynasty
It was Simon who had the final word.
Simon has watched "The Legend of Chu and Han", in which Uncle Dao Ming played the emperor again, and according to the comments of many viewers, it was said that Uncle Dao Ming made Liu Bang 'live'. What are the main aspects of 'living', rogue, cunning, unscrupulous... Simon thinks this is quite unfair.
History books seem to be unfair to the two famous grassroots emperors in Chinese history. When it comes to Liu Bang, they are scoundrels, and when it comes to Zhu Yuanzhang, they are cruel and easy to kill.
Simon didn't want to say more about it.
Choosing Uncle Daoming, Simon personally explained to this side that he wanted this famous actor who is very suitable to play an emperor to perform the side of why Liu Bang became an emperor. The general idea is to deduce the cause from the result, so when choosing an actor, you must first look like an emperor, and at least give the audience an impression of an emperor.
Otherwise, the project would have collapsed from the start.
Because audiences in both the East and the West, regardless of whether they know history or not, probably don't want to see a 'rogue' defeat a 'hero' and win the throne on the big screen.
What are scoundrels? They are idle, cunning and greedy for small profits without any great righteousness. If this is true, how could it be possible for Lu Gong from a wealthy family to marry Lu Feixi to a man whose daughter is more than ten years older? A large group of famous historical officials such as Zhang Liang, Xiao He, Han Xin, etc. gathered under his command. Are these people all blind
In short, although Simon is not opposed to appropriately showing Liu Bang's businesslike side in the film, he mainly focuses on why Liu Bang became the founding emperor.
Followed by Lu Pheasant.
This also caused a lot of confusion for all parties. Not because it’s hard to choose, but because it’s so good to choose.
Emperor Gong!
Then the trouble started.
After all, the love story between Zhang Guoshi and Gong Huang was once written into a popular TV series. Although history was disrupted by Simon, the big butterfly, this time, the two finally broke up.
In the end, everyone gave the choice to Zhang Guoshi himself.
Maybe he felt that this role was really suitable for Gong Huang, or maybe he had other thoughts. In the end, Zhang Guoshi personally came forward and persuaded Gong Huang to join this project.
Compared to Uncle Dao Ming, who only played a supporting role in "Hero", Gong Huang's international reputation is much higher. By finalizing this matter, all parties who are thinking about overseas markets will have their wishes fulfilled.
Then there is Xiang Yu.
After a long selection process, we finally fell on two people, 'Wu Song' from "Water Margin", and "Qiao Feng" from "Dragon Movie" which was just broadcast in China last month. Both of them are original versions. .
When it came to the initial stage of choosing one of the two, Simon was more inclined towards 'Wu Song'.
The reason is a bit biased.
Mainly, Simon felt that Xiang Yu should be a tough guy with a Chinese character face, so when comparing the two, 'Qiao Feng', who may have better acting skills, has an image... at least compared to 'Wu Song', he doesn't look so upright.
In the end I chose 'Qiao Feng'.
Because after the make-up audition, 'Qiao Feng' was really far ahead of 'Wu Song'. Maybe they both came from majors and had many years of acting experience. The problem is that there is really nothing you can do about acting talent.
The last Yu Ji, Princess Xu.
Unofficial decision.
Simon couldn't explain that he was referring to 'Ren Yingying' in his memory. He simply didn't explain it. It was an unspoken rule. Who was in favor and who was against
No one objected.
The matter was decided happily.
Well, of course, first of all, Princess Xu's acting, image and even age really fit the setting of Yu Ji. Moreover, after the role was finalized, Princess Xu participated in various equestrian, archery, martial arts and other trainings in the first half of the year. Princess Xu did not take advantage of someone's name to slack off, so she secured her position.
Otherwise, Simon himself would take the initiative to replace him without anyone else saying anything.
In any case, it is conceivable that as long as everything goes well in the "Chu and Han" trilogy, the four protagonists will definitely usher in another peak of their acting careers, the kind that can last a lifetime.
In addition to the four protagonists, the competition for other major supporting roles is also fierce.
No need to go into details.
What has to be mentioned is that it is obvious that this time, all the Hong Kong and Taiwan stars who were more popular in the past are out.
This can be regarded as Simon's deliberate arrangement.
There was a "Legend of Hongmen Banquet" in the original time and space, Liu Tianxian played Yu Ji, this is the second one. The key is that the film uses a large number of actors from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Simon has no prejudice against the actors themselves. The problem is, if not talking about other things, it is just one. When he saw "Brother Pheasant" playing "Fan Kuai" in the film, Simon immediately became interested in the role.
What the hell? !
Did 'Fan Kuai' live in Causeway Bay and become a double-flowered red stick, or did 'Brother Pheasant' travel back to Peixian County to fight for world supremacy with Boss Liu
Too messy.
Probably because of their accent or something else, in short, this group of people lacks a classical temperament that can be integrated into a Chinese historical drama.
Therefore, except for some people behind the scenes, from the Hong Kong and Taiwan circles, even the supporting actors, under Simon's instructions, no one was wanted this time.