This was probably the year when Chinese cinema flourished and grew wildly.
Even looking back on this year now, countless people still find it incredible.
The movie "The Time Machine", which has dominated China's box office for three years, was defeated by "Superman 1" in the witness of countless Chinese people.
The figure of 480 million is daunting.
Just when everyone thought that "Superman 1" was about to take over from "The Time Machine" and once again dominate the Chinese movie box office for many years, "Jurassic" appeared again, breaking the "Jurassic" record with an astonishing box office of 530 million.
However, before "Jurassic" dominated the Chinese movie box office for a long time, another movie called "The Sevier" was born...
In just one year, everyone became a witness to the rise of Hollywood movies.
While they witnessed the birth of new kings one after another, they also witnessed the gradual emergence of Chinese movies from an era of humiliation to the bright future, with the birth of works such as "The Grandmaster", "The Guard" and "Struggle" that have both excellent reputations and box office.
Chinese film-makers who were once severely beaten by reality finally saw the hope of the rise of Chinese films. They regained their confidence in domestic films and no longer just cursed and gave up on themselves.
Second half of 2007.
This confidence became stronger and even gave rise to a sense of pride.
"Night Walker", "Infernal Affairs", and "Our Motherland" are three movies scheduled for August. Some of the movies did not meet expectations, but at least none of them failed to hit the market.
Moreover, the beginning of August this year is the only month in the Non-Chinese Film Protection Month that has not been suppressed by Hollywood films.
August 12th.
When the box office of the movie "Infernal Affairs" came to an end on the second day, it continued to maintain a suppressive attitude, maintaining a box office of 30 million yuan and setting an astonishing record of 60 million yuan in two days, the entire Chinese film industry was excited!
Countless people looked at this data with numbness and were extremely excited!
Chinese movies have never had such a glorious moment!
It seems that the Chinese box office record of "Pandaman" is no longer far away.
However, this joyful time did not last long before such a message appeared on Weibo.
["Superman 2" is confirmed to be released on August 15th! 】
When they saw this news, the Chinese film-makers who had been cheering for joy felt like they had been punched hard in the chest and felt panicked.
Last year's "Superman" had a box office of 480 million.
It can be regarded as a landmark work.
One year later, the market is no longer the same as last year.
With the rapid development of China's economy, people are paying more and more attention to the quality of life, and entertainment projects have gradually become an indispensable part of people's lives.
At the beginning of the year, theater chain executives who had a keen sense of the market saw the future prospects of the film industry, and almost unanimously began to expand wildly in all directions. In just eight months, the number of theaters increased by about 40%.
.
At the same time, in order to maintain the vitality of the entire industry, relevant departments issued a series of policies to combat pirated movies in May, removing countless "preemptive versions", "pirated versions", "recorded versions" and "live versions" on the Internet.
" and other pirated movies, and also vigorously crack down on piracy of some optical disc pirates.
Under various policies to stimulate the market, the Chinese film market has expanded by nearly half. Movies such as "Jurassic", "Interstellar", and "The Grandmaster" all set records due to the booming development of the market!
so……
When "Superman 2" was announced to be released on August 15th, filmmakers who had full confidence in Chinese films panicked!
Not only were the filmmakers panicked, but netizens on the Internet also started discussing it.
[If "Superman 1" can be released in 2007, its box office will definitely exceed 480 million. According to market predictions, it will definitely reach 600 million! 】
[600 million is less. If it were released in March this year, "Superman 1" would definitely be 700 million! 】
[One thing to say is that although it may seem like it might be because of someone else's ambition that may undermine one's own prestige, if "Superman 1" is released together with "The Grandmaster", "The Grandmaster" might be overwhelmed!]
["Superman 2" is released, will you go and see it? I will go and see it. After all, the 3D special effects in "Superman 1" are so amazing. I dare to swear that China will not be able to make such a good movie in ten years!]
[Ten years? Twenty years, I can’t shoot it!]
["Infernal Affairs" was terrible... Is Zhang Shuyin's Weibo still there? This guy is a prophet, right! Damn it, "Superman 2" is really coming out? 】
【……】
In the midst of discussion...
Except for some die-hard fans of Chinese movies, everyone else is pessimistic about "Infernal Affairs" colliding with "Superman 2".
[Have Chinese films truly surpassed Hollywood films in the local market?].
Zhang Shuyin’s Weibo was updated again on August 12th.
The updated content is very short.
There is only one sentence.
However, such a sentence made countless netizens who were originally pessimistic suddenly become even more silent.
A person’s name, the shadow of a tree!
Countless people have checked information on previous Chinese movies and Hollywood blockbusters.
Either they were suppressed, they were just hanging on, or they were pushed out into the street...
It's very cruel, as if that period of humiliating history is happening again!
Chinese movies...
I have never won a Hollywood blockbuster.
What’s even more cruel is that even if Zhou Yang is in China and maximizes the popularity of the movie, he can’t change the expectation of the series of IPs of “Superman” in the hearts of fans and children, nor can he change the box office of “Infernal Affairs”.
Ten yuan, the fact is that the 3D box office of "Superman 2" is 40 yuan.
Even if the number of moviegoers is the same, the box office gap is twice as high!
……………………
Movie fans are not the only ones who are worried.
And Django.
Django could accept that "Night Walker" was not as strong at the box office as expected, but he simply could not accept that "Night Walker" was a flop or even a loss.
With the appearance of "Superman 2", anyone with a discerning eye will know that it is sniping at "Infernal Affairs".
After "Superman 2" is released, it is inevitable that "Infernal Affairs" will have a huge impact on the box office. Although it will not be a hit on the street, it will be very difficult to break the record under the suppression of "Superman 2".
In the office.
The analysts have deduced all possible scenarios that may arise next, but the result of the derivation is a fact that Jiang Ge cannot accept.
"Infernal Affairs" will be affected by "Superman 2", but "Night Walker" will most likely be hit hard.
There are only a few movies released in August. "Infernal Affairs" is now at its peak. Even if it is affected, it will not be reduced in the film schedule. And "Our Motherland" is the main theme movie. Even if the box office is poor, it must maintain a certain film schedule.
Quantity, it is impossible to draw in advance...
then……
"Night Walker" is very likely to become a victim of this game.
This movie has an investment of 300 million yuan, and the Chinese box office will not be able to recover the money until the box office reaches 600 million, and the overseas box office will have a small hit!
If this situation continues, "Night Walker" may be thrown out of the market.
The investment of 300 million yuan did not come from the strong wind!
Jiang Ge signed a gambling agreement and took money from capital to realize his filming ambitions. If the gambling agreement cannot be completed, he might end up here for the rest of his life.
The capital structure behind "Night Walker" is also complex and terrifyingly powerful. Unless the top executives of Xinghui personally come forward to settle the capital, otherwise...
Jiang Ge was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat.
He immediately took out his mobile phone and called Cao Bangguo.
He can accept that his skills are not as good as others, he can accept that he is not as good as Zhou Yang, a monster, and he can even accept that "Night Walker" may not reach the expected box office, but he must not rush into the market.
The call was quickly connected.
He expressed his concerns again.
Cao Bangguo was silent for a long time and finally said: "I will contact the director of "Superman 2", but the probability of delaying the release is not very high..."
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Ge lowered his head. Seeing that the discussion about "Superman 2" on the Internet once reached the top of Weibo's hot search list, Jiang Ge felt even more irritable.
About thirty minutes...
The phone rang again.
Cao Bangguo called. After the call was connected, Jiang Ge heard a long silence on the other end, and finally sighed: ""Superman 2" will be released on time..."
"Is there any other way?"
"Discuss with the major theater chains. You don't have to do anything these days. Just go to the bosses of the major theater chains to discuss the arrangement of "Night Walker"..."
"anything else?"
"There are some unspoken rules... forget it, let's not use some unspoken rules and be more upright." Cao Bangguo was about to say something on the other end of the phone, but finally shook his head.
"..." After Jiang Ge heard the words "unspoken rules", he was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and looked at his hands.
After a long silence, while he was wandering, his phone rang again.
When he saw the number on the other end of the phone, his eyes widened in disbelief, as if he didn't expect that this person would actually call him!
"Director Zhao?"
……………………
Early morning of October 14th.
Zhou Yang did not pay attention to the popularity of the premiere of "Superman 2" that was abuzz on the Internet.
It's been less than a month since the Mid-Autumn Festival.
At this moment...
Almonds, egg yolks, Hong Kong style, bean paste, ham.
He is in his new kitchen, testing various mooncakes with his own hands.
An Xiao's family is very powerful, so it would be inconspicuous for you to give her something else.
Of course, gifts still have to be given. In addition to gifts, Zhou Yang felt that he would give each person a box of mooncakes made by himself, which would better express his feelings for his elders.
"no!"
Zhou Yang took a bite of the freshest mooncake.
Then he frowned.
I feel that this mooncake is not as delicious as I imagined.
He was a little disappointed at first, so he went back to the drawing board and tried again.
"Dududu."
The phone rang.
The call was from Wang Jing.
"Mr. Zhou..."
"What's wrong?"
"I was reading Weibo just now, and our "Infernal Affairs" was surpassed in popularity by "Superman 2"..."
"Oh, it's normal. After all, "Superman 2" is also very popular, and we can't always be at the top of Weibo's popularity list..."
"Actually, it's easy to get to the top of Weibo. I just don't know, Mr. Zhou, if you want to get on top..."
"Ah? What's the big news?"
"No... Mr. Zhou, you just need to register a Weibo and just post a sentence."