418 The ravely acclaimed villain and the rising Fan Xiaopang
"New Police Story" was released on September 24. As the first collaboration between two international superstars, it goes without saying that it has attracted much attention.
That night, online platforms such as Penguin Blog posted their thoughts on the movie from many film critics and netizens.
…
"Cheng Long's movies in the non-traditional sense, in my impression, except for the early movies, since the creation of the kung fu comedy genre, Cheng Long has rarely been so "weak"" - [Kui Niu 516]
"As a fan of Big Brother for many years, to be honest, I cried when I saw him no longer smiling in the movie, but crying with regret and regret." - [Fat Cow Flying Sky]
"Cheng Long, who just turned 50 this year, is old, and the characters in the movie are all "tired". The courageous Chen Jiaju back then has turned into the decadent Chen Gangrong. I personally feel that his transformation this time does not meet my expectations.
Perception, but not a failure”——[Bei Yilou]
"Compared to the old-fashioned police and gangster plot of Hong Kong movies, the biggest surprise is Cao Xuan. The villain surprised me" - [Confusion in the blink of an eye]
"Although the character Ah Xuan is insanely bad, he is really handsome. He is worthy of being the only Asian on the list of the top ten most handsome guys in the world." - [Prosperity Like Brocade]
"Cao Xuan's acting skills are getting better and better. That villain scared my girlfriend to tears. She didn't dare to go home and sleep alone at night, hehe." - [Boooo]
"It's not that I'm looking at people through colored glasses. Xie Feng and several young Hong Kong actors really acted mediocrely and superficially, ruining such a good cast. The whole movie was focused on Cheng Long and Cao Xuan, especially Cao Xuan.
Xuan, without him, I definitely feel that the ticket price is not worth it.”——[Yuchi Yanxu]
"I originally thought it was Cao Xuan who acted as Cheng Long, but I didn't expect that all the surprises in the movie were Cao Xuan. This kind of emotional villain is not inferior to those classic Hong Kong movies" - [Blurred Scenery]
"Although I was very happy when the villain died in the end, but if I tell you, it felt like the plot was forced to kill, and the ending seemed anticlimactic." - [See Your Own Nature]
"If you want to see Cheng Long's kung fu comedy, don't go here. If you want to see crime police and gangster themes, or are a fan of Cao Xuan, the ticket price is definitely worth the money." - [Jing Daojun]
"I have been a fan of Cao Ma for eight years. I just want to tell you that our Cao Ma is an out-and-out villain. I have always felt that he is better as a villain than a decent one."——[Nan Shisan]
"You are all watching Cao Xuan's bad character. Didn't anyone observe the scenes between him and his father? The emotions in his eyes are so complex that I think the character is very three-dimensional, and I even feel a little sorry for him." - [Da Da Da Xing]
"I just went to Wang Sunglasses' "2046" and took a look. I really am not the type to watch literary films. I am planning to watch "New Police Story" again." - Shamaru
Rubbish movie, especially ugly——[Pang Yidian]-This account violated the platform rules and was banned for 30 days
The spam blog blocked my account, dog ＊＊＊——[One and a half] - This account violates the platform rules and is permanently banned
…
Overall, the premiere of "New Police Story" wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly good either.
It probably belongs to the kind of evaluation that is slightly above average, and this "above" rating largely depends on Cao Xuan's performance as an eye-catching villain.
Cheng Long's transformation has also been praised by many people, but many people are not used to it, and the evaluation is somewhat divided. Overall, it is not as positive as Cao Xuan's evaluation.
Cao Xuan definitely took advantage here.
Although this movie is a showdown between good and evil between two male protagonists, Cao Xuan is a secondary villain, and the personal pressure he bears must be less than that of Cheng Long.
As long as he, the villain, is completely bad and makes the audience hate him, then he has completed the task perfectly, but Cheng Long, the protagonist, has more things to shoulder.
But similarly, if the movie as a whole is brilliant and the character is stable, then he will receive more attention than the villain Cao Xuan.
However, the movie "New Police Story" cannot be said to be a classic, and the brilliance of Cheng Long's character was completely suppressed by Cao Xuan. Almost 80% of the movie audiences who watched this movie were most impressed by Cao Xuan.
As the main creators and parties involved in the film, Cheng Long and Cao Xuan also pay great attention to the audience's reputation and feedback.
Seeing that his transformation was not recognized by everyone, Cheng Long inevitably felt a little disappointed, but Cao Xuan was simple. His evaluation basically went in two directions.
One praised him for his good acting, while the other criticized his character Ah Xuan.
Cao Xuan completely ignored the latter and collected the screenshots happily, planning to pick some that were praised and print them out to frame at home.
The moods of the two people are almost completely opposite. Cao Xuan is carefree and leisurely, while Cheng Long is depressed and nervous.
It doesn't matter if the reputation of the transformation is not high. What he values more is the box office. If both companies lose, it will be really uncomfortable.
Fortunately, the appeal of the cooperation between the two superstars is here, and the box office in the mainland on the first day was just over 8 million.
Secondly, on Saturday, the box office total increased instead of falling, reaching 9.2 million. Although it fell on Sunday, it still remained around 8 million.
The three-day box office grossed nearly 25 million+, and the first-week box office is expected to surpass last year's co-production box office champion "Infernal Affairs 3", which grossed 36 million.
The total box office in Thailand has exceeded 5 million yuan, in Singapore it has been about 2 million yuan, in Hong Kong it has also reached 8 million yuan, and in Taiwan it has also exceeded 5 million yuan...
The mainland box office is comparable to the summer hit "Xiu Chun Knife", and the overseas box office is also impressive. The overall momentum is extremely bright, which can make the main producer Fang Yang and the profit share Cheng Long very happy.
During the interview, Boss Yang even made wild claims, claiming that he had begun preparations for a celebration party for a mainland box office of over 100 million yuan, and that Cheng Long would be present in person to interact with some movie fans.
"New Police Story" is full of joy, and is even preparing to surpass "House of Flying Daggers" and catch up with "Spring Knife" to become the mainland box office champion in 2004.
However, Cao Xuan was very calm. He was shocked by the momentum of "New Police Story" at first.
He even almost lost his mind. Could it be that he is really a box-office miracle drug, making whatever hits he makes, even ordinary movies can become blockbuster hits...
But it was only after we obtained data from various parties of Fanxing Cinemas and analysis by Fanxing-related distribution professionals that we finally understood the reason.
The reason why "New Police Story" is a hit at the box office is simple. Cheng Long + Cao Xuan, two new and old superstars, joined forces for the first time, attracting countless gourmets and fans.
The individual box office appeal of Cheng Long and Cao Xuan may be limited, but together they form a star-studded aura and form a complementary and expanding effect.
Many people who didn't plan to watch it originally wanted to see what it would be like to see the two superstars working together.
In the same way, if Li Liangjie is brought in to cooperate with Cao Xuan or Cheng Long, it can also create a certain sensation.
This effect is extremely helpful to the box office in the early stage, and it can win over some non-movie consumer groups and achieve a hot box office in a short period of time.
This is also the reason why many film crews are interested in chasing casts. The help of star power to box office is indeed real.
A cast with a luxurious lineup is the first factor that attracts audiences to the theater.
But it should be noted that a movie is ultimately about its content. The so-called box office appeal of stars or directors is actually based on the content of the movie.
Every director or star with great success will still have a box office failure sometimes.
Consumers are not fools. Some people may go to the movies for other reasons, but many people still look at word-of-mouth and cost-effectiveness.
Whether the ticket is worth the money is definitely the question that most viewers care about most...
Therefore, based on the analysis of Fanxing's related data, the opening of "New Police Story" was as expected.
However, the quality of the film cannot be said to be particularly good, at least it is difficult to maintain a long-term and stable popularity.
The subsequent growth of the box office will definitely decline, but as to how far it can decline and whether it can be stabilized and not collapse depends on the specific situation.
Sure enough, when Cao Xuan and others went from Shanghai to other cities to promote, the box office of "New Police Story" began to decline significantly.
Boss Yang and Cheng Long’s previous goal was to earn more than 50 million in the first week.
But in reality, "New Police Story" only made about 42 million after its first week, and the box office continued to decline. On the first day of its second week, the box office was only 5 million+.
The good news is that after the daily box office reached 5 million, the downward trend has obviously slowed down.
The bad news is that if this trend continues, "New Police Story"'s goal of breaking 100 million is really uncertain.
According to common sense, under normal circumstances, the movie box office is the highest in the first week, and there will be no obvious decline in the second week.
In rare cases where word-of-mouth counterattacks, the box office in the second week will exceed that of the first week.
After two weeks, it has basically reached the cold period. Unless it is a hit with strong battery life, the box office data will basically decline in the third and fourth weeks.
After the fifth week, it is the final stage. The box office growth is very limited. You can make a few profits, and even many movies are not able to survive this time and are withdrawn...
Of course, this is just a general trend, and the specific situation is based on the analysis of individual movie cases. There are many movies that slap experts and institutions in the face.
Real-time box office statistics or estimates for the market outlook are basically based on days or even hours. That is, box office data growth cannot be explained clearly in one or two sentences.
Various analyzes are only rough judgments based on some methods and experience, which are of great reference, but mistakes often occur.
Just like Fanxing previously predicted, "New Police Story" would decline after a week, but in fact it started to "dive" in less than 4 days, which is still somewhat different from "accurate".
Cao Xuan personally hopes that the box office of "New Police Story" can exceed 100 million.
By then, he will have two movies worth over 100 million yuan and become the [300 million movie king], the most box-office starring Chinese young actor...
But I'm not particularly anxious. After all, apart from the nice name, the actual significance is not that great.
The single-handedly carrying 150 million of "Spring Knife" has proven him. If "New Police Story" is going to hit the market, Cheng Long will be blamed for it.
Besides, he is just an ordinary actor. Even if "New Police Story" broke 1 billion, he didn't get a dime. There was no need to work hard, he just had to do his duty.
Boss Cao appreciates hard-working employees when he is doing business. When it is his turn to "work" for others, he is well versed in the art of fishing.
During the day, they went to the road show and returned to the hotel in the evening. Cheng Long and the others went to a meeting to study the box office and publicity.
Cao Xuan was having fun, either going to the gym to relax his muscles, or playing cards or online games with Zhu Jiang and others, or chatting on the phone with Dongxi Ergong, and also developed a good habit of watching TV series.
It's so pitiful. Thinking about the days when he was in charge of the road show of "Embroidered Spring Knife", Cao Xuan once again experienced the joy of "working as a worker".
Of course, Chef Xie and others, who are assigned various tasks every day, have completely different experiences from Cao Xuan.
Boss Cao is so confident that he dares to let his sheep and pigeons go. He just plays games and watches TV in the room when he doesn't want to attend the meeting. They are not treated so well and must attend the meeting and observe it.
Just kidding, the boss is busy working while you are happily playing in the room, you really act like capitalists.
During the meeting, even if I can't help with anything, I just sit and listen, and I have to accompany my bosses.
If the bosses want to chat privately, they go do other work. They can't be idle anyway.
In a word, the boss eats the meat first, and everyone suffers the pain together...
………
In Cao Xuan's room, three laptops were set up, and Cao Xuan and the other three were playing CS while yelling.
"Lao Zhu, you cover it from behind."
"Zhang Chong, there are two people in the middle."
"I'll charge first, you cooperate."
"Fuck, I'm dead!"
"..."
Cao Xuan dropped the mouse in frustration and couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the dead body on the screen.
There is a saying that goes like this: when God opens a door, he will close a window.
God gave Cao Xuan a handsome face, a strong body, a smart mind, outstanding acting and singing talents, and an invincible golden finger.
One of the prices Cao Xuan paid was his ability to play games.
To be more precise, Cao Xuan has no problem playing business or brain-based games, but he is not good at competitive games that require more manipulation.
It's like going to the canyon, and my ancestors will be scolded by teammates for being a corpse...
Fortunately, he was not very addicted to food, so he gave up decisively after being tortured for a few times.
"No more playing, come here, I'll watch TV."
"I won't play anymore, I'm dizzy."
Zhu Jiang has only a moderate interest in games and mainly spends time with Cao Xuan. However, Zhang Chong likes to play games. He puts on his headphones and runs to the corner with his computer to continue playing.
Cao Xuan turned on the TV and took Zhu Jiang to watch daily dramas, and the TV series he watched was "Beauty's Scheming" produced by Fanxing.
Although Fanxing invested over 10 million yuan in the drama, it was directed by Fan Xiaopang, and the leading actors Yan Kuan, Yang Xue and others were not particularly popular, so the attention of "Beauty's Scheming" was not particularly high.
Hunan TV is more optimistic about this kind of female protagonist struggle drama, and together with the cooperation of the Golden Eagle Award, it finally won the first broadcast rights of "Beauty's Scheming".
When "Beauty's Scheming" was launched, the ratings were not very good. After 15 episodes, word-of-mouth started to gain steam and the show became more popular.
As the future first sister of Fanxing, Cao Xuan still attaches great importance to this drama and has been following it in his spare time.
One thing to say, if you don't have high requirements for history, watching this drama is actually quite enjoyable.
The story of "Beauty's Scheming" tells the story of Dou Yifang, the Dou family, which spanned the three dynasties of the Western Han Dynasty: Emperor Wen, Emperor Jing, and Emperor Wu, and served as empress, empress dowager, and empress dowager.
It is worth mentioning that Dou Yifang is the real name of Queen Mother Dou.
However, this is the statement of an Eastern Han Dynasty scholar recorded in a history book of the Tang Dynasty, and its specific authenticity is doubtful.
Thanks to "The Emperor" starring Huang Xiaoming, the Queen Mother Dou is still somewhat well-known in the eyes of some viewers, but she is more of a villain image of an evil grandmother.
The image and character design of Dou Yifang in "Beauty's Scheming" must be different from that in "The Emperor of the Han Dynasty", or even completely opposite.
There is no need to worry about the audience being upset. Everyone is used to it. Because some historical screenwriters are just pretending to be fake, it is normal for film and television dramas to slap each other in the face.
Many historical figures may have been loyal ministers and filial sons in the previous TV series, but rebellious ministers and traitors who killed kings and fathers in the next movie. If we really cared about them one by one, everyone would have become crazy.
Regarding Dou Yifang in "Beauty's Scheming", although the plot has been greatly modified, some key nodes are still consistent with history.
For example, Dou Yifang in history was indeed a palace maid, and she was considered highly valued by Empress Lu.
At that time, Empress Lu tried to pacify Liu Bang's disciples and assigned five maids to each king. It was at this time that Dou Yifang came to the side of Emperor Wen of Han, who was still the acting king.
Later, the Zhulu rebellion was put down and Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne. At that time, the queen was dead, so Dou Yifang was favored and gave birth to a son, so she was made the queen.
After that, she struggled to death, and her husband and son became the empress dowager all the way, becoming the second empress dowager in history. If Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty hadn't been so young, she might have become the empress dowager...
The plot of "Beauty's Scheming" is based on the historical records of Dou Yifang, using imagination and crazy modifications.
The first is Lu. As the number one villain in the early Han Dynasty, this person still maintained a stable performance. He was afraid that his son's throne would be threatened, so he was particularly wary of Liu Bang's other sons and laid the groundwork.
If you follow the routine of a normal palace fighting drama, the heroine will appear directly, and then the attack will be upgraded to defeat monsters.
However, how can this make the plot watery? At the same time, we have to arrange for her to fall in love and kill each other with a vicious second female good sister who was separated when she was young and made the heroine feel guilty.
After finally waiting for the heroine to enter the palace and show her face with various qualities, Emperor Liu Ying fell in love with her.
But how can the heroine be greedy for power? She doesn't like the emperor and thinks the emperor is dangerous. She is very resistant to contact with the emperor, but she frequently shows up in front of the emperor due to various accidents.
But when the emperor saw that the heroine didn't like him, he said, "Oh, this woman is so special, it aroused my interest..."
To put it bluntly, it's still the same as the domineering president, but it's just changed into a historical costume.
But one thing is true, the audience still fell for this trick. It was also after attracting the attention of the emperor that the ratings of "Beauty's Scheming" increased steadily.
In the first few episodes of the TV series, the average ratings were only between 1% and 1.5%.
After the heroine Dou Yifang entered the palace, the ratings rose rapidly. After the scenes with the emperor became more intense, the average ratings stabilized at more than 2% and rose steadily.
Later, Dou Yifang was valued by Empress Lu, and as a spy, she was sent to monitor the king. The male and female protagonists officially met, and the plot climaxed continuously, and "Beauty's Scheming" began to appear in the circle.
At this time, the TV series' ratings really began to rise significantly.
By the time "Beauty's Scheming" has aired for about 30 episodes, the average ratings have basically stabilized at over 5%. In the current TV drama market, it is already considered a hit.
By the time the TV series ended, the average ratings of "Beauty's Scheming" were close to 6%, and the highest ratings exceeded 9%. It can be regarded as the first echelon among the TV series broadcast this year.
The replay data is also quite good. Fanxing sold four satellite TV stations in one go and made a huge profit, which also allowed the influence of "Beauty's Scheming" to continue to expand.
With this stocking style, Fan Xiaopang, the heroine of "Beauty's Scheming" finally made her debut and gained a lot of fans.
And under Fanxing's arrangement, he frequently appeared in TV series to strive for exposure and expand his visibility and popularity.
Just last week, Fan Xiaopang personally led the crew of "Beauty's Scheming" to participate in Hunan TV's flagship variety show "Happy Camp" for the second time.
To be honest, this trip to "Happy Camp" has extraordinary personal significance for Fan Xiaopang.
She has been to the base camp several times before, especially during the period of "Huan Zhu Ge Ge", and can even be said to be a regular guest on the show.
But at that time, everyone's main focus was on the two princesses, followed by the fifth elder brother and Erkang. Fan Xiaopang was just a "maid", standing beside them like a minion.
After that, Fan Xiaopang participated in "Happy Camp" several times and also served as a guest C position. However, the popularity of the guest position was limited and the treatment was not much better.
Although Mr. He is known as the King of Popularity and takes good care of newcomers, it does not mean that the program team does not care about what others do.
Even Teacher He tried his best to take care of all the guests, but Cao Xuan was on the same stage with a newcomer. As long as he was not stupid, he knew who to give the camera to.
Fan Xiaopang was definitely not criticized in "Happy Camp" before, but various details and signs made it difficult for her to have a strong personality and not think too much about it.
Until this time "Beauty's Scheming" became popular, plus the heroine of the previous "Cell Phone" and the widely rumored heroine of "Xiu Chun Dao 2", as well as Fanxing and Huayi's hotly-hyped "Four Dans Double Soldiers".
Anyone with some connections in the circle knows that she is now "close to" Cao Tianwang and has a bright future.
A popular little flower receives completely different treatment and environment from a popular little flower who has strong momentum and is backed by a big boss.
The little maid back then experienced two real C positions for the first time in "Happy Camp".
Fan Xiaopang, who originally had some ideas about being the Queen of Hundred Flowers, immediately put all the new ideas behind after "Beautiful Hearts" became popular, and became even more glad that he switched to Fanxing.
This idea reached its peak when the organizer put her name before Li Bingbing and Ruby Lin at an event, and assumed the C position.
Fan Xiaopang doesn't have many "inner demons", and the two in "Huan Zhuge Ge" are one of them. The other one is Huayi and the Li sisters.
After that event, when I thought about Lin and Li's slightly gloomy expressions backstage, Fan Xiaopang could wake up laughing from his sleep during those days.
Then Fan Xiaopang expressed his loyalty to Cao Xuan and the company in a later interview.
"I am especially grateful to Brother Xuan, our crew producer Sister Jing and the director for giving me this opportunity."
"The project "Beauty's Scheming" was finalized for me by Brother Xuan. He is a very good boss and takes special care of us. He is not only careful, but also has a very professional vision. It can be said that he is the smartest and most versatile person I have ever seen.
people."
"Fanxing is a united, friendly, and enterprising group. I am really proud to be a part of this group."
"..."
I don’t know how Fan Xiaopang’s former employer Aunt Qiong Yao and the Wang brothers from Huayi felt when they heard Fan Xiaopang’s interview, but Boss Cao was quite satisfied.
And with the popularity of "Beauty's Scheming", the stars are increasingly building momentum for "Four Dans and Two Soldiers".
At the same time, Fanxing also began to plan the next TV series for Fan Xiaopang, and arranged some business activities and fashion resources, preparing to strike while the iron is hot, boosting her popularity in one fell swoop, and supporting her to become a top actress.
Although Fanxing Artist Management has achieved good results in the past two years and has promoted many new talents, its income has not been in line with expectations.
Boss Cao needs a few artists who can make money to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the Stars Artist Management Department.
Fan Xiaopang was the first, and Hu Ge and Liu Tianxian from "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" that will be aired soon were the second and third...
