Liu Ye is considered to be the most successful person since he entered the entertainment industry around 2000. Whether it is Lu Yi, who was famous all over the world, or Chen Kun, who starred in many classic TV series, they are actually a little bit less interesting.
In 1998, his first film "The Mountain, That Man, That Dog" won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Feature Film and the Montreal International Film Festival's Most Popular Feature Film Award. He was also nominated for the Golden Rooster Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In 2001, just after graduating from college, he starred in "Lan Yu" and won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actor, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, but ultimately lost to Zhou Xingchi.
The 23-year-old Golden Horse Best Actor!
In 2002, he starred in "Balzac's Little Tailor" and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film!
The starring role in "Landscape of Love" was nominated for the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, and his co-star was Hong Kong star Zheng Yijian.
It was absolutely rare in the film industry at that time to have a Hong Kong star who was one level higher than himself act as a co-star.
"Purple Butterfly" starring Zhang Ziyi and Li Binbin was shortlisted for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
"What can I do to save you, my love" was also a classic TV series of the year.
Not to mention the TV series "Blood Waste" starring in 2004, it is a classic of a generation!
In the same year, he starred in the movie "Beauty Grass" and won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor.
Later, he starred in two super blockbusters, "The Promise" and "The City of Golden Armor".
Last year, she entered Hollywood for the first time, starring in the feature film "Dark Matter" with Hollywood superstar Meryl Streep.
In the past 7 years, the road has been almost smooth and smooth.
Like many stars, their path to stardom starts with winning awards for small-budget art films and then focusing on the box office.
However, in the next two years, he faced an embarrassing situation, with no blockbuster films to follow.
Not only are there no blockbusters, but medium-budget protagonists are also unavailable.
Although he is playing the role of Deng Chao this time, he is still the number two male lead in a big production and has a guaranteed box office, which is much better than the number three role in "Hold the Call"!
In addition to Liu Ye, Yu Nan also won a lot of awards, but the combined domestic box office of those films was less than 10 million, and they were not very famous at all.
Moreover, the three films she won awards for were all directed by her boyfriend Wang Quanwen.
In addition, Deng Chao, who starred in "Assembly", is considered one of the only "big names".
Several other actors, including Tang Yan, Liao Fan, and Wu Gang, have worked together, but they are not very famous.
We are all looking forward to and excited about the roles this time, including Deng Chao, who has already been confirmed.
"You have gotten your respective scripts and have a general understanding of your roles, so let's get started now!"
"Deng Chao, Liu Ye, Deng Kai, Tang Yan."
"You four are magicians. You must always remember your identities when performing. Magic itself is a performance!"
"In other words, the characters you play are also acting in the movie!"
"I asked you each to learn a little magic trick before. You don't need to learn it, just do the basic moves. Can you do it?" Tang An asked the four of them.
"Okay, Director Tang!" the four of them responded one after another.
Deng Chao is a master of blind tricks. The most basic one is card magic. However, it is too difficult for him to learn it in just one month. If some difficult shuffling and cutting of cards cannot be completed, then he can find a magician stand-in to just shoot.
Close-up of hand.
Tang Yan made a guest appearance as a passerby, and Deng Chao started with a deck of cards.
As for the 7 of Diamonds magic trick at the beginning, the technique is a bit stiff and not natural enough, but the expression and eyes are quite on point.
Although it is not as slutty as it was later, it is just right in the movie. After all, it is not a variety show. It only relies on body language and weirdness to amuse the audience. The main thing is magic.
Tang An nodded without commenting, and then the other three people each performed a piece.
It can be seen that everything has been prepared more or less, and no one has done anything half-heartedly.
“Well done to everyone!”
Tang An first expressed his approval of their performance, and then said, "They can barely pass the test at 2x speed."
As soon as these words came out, the smiles that appeared on the faces of the four of them instantly froze. They were neither smiling nor not smiling.
How embarrassing!
"Deng Chao, you are better at playing cards than me. It's already good to be able to do this in more than a month. Director Wang has contacted several magicians. You can take some time to practice every day. You can make perfect."
"Okay, Mr. Tang, I will definitely satisfy you!" Deng Chao assured with a nod.
"Liu Ye, when you were guessing the name and pronouncing each letter, your speech speed was too flat. Although you were not really guessing, you couldn't make it look like you were reciting the lines, following the eyes and facial expressions of the person in front of you."
...
After commenting one by one, Tang An finally concluded with two sentences.
"There are still a few problems that you all have. Every magician is very confident when performing. Regardless of whether you are sure or not, at least the audience must see that you have a plan in mind, otherwise you will not see any confidence in your eyes.
, how could they believe it!”
In fact, the problem is far more than that, Tang An didn't say too much, and if he said too much, it wouldn't change in a short time.
After asking their agent to come over and sign the contract, Tang An left Deng Chao and the four of them behind.
"Do you have anything else to do in the next month?" Tang An asked.
"We have to spend a few days promoting "Assembly Number", and basically everything else." Deng Chao thought for a while and replied.
"Mr. Tang, I'll be fine for the next six months!" Liu Ye thought about it and turned down other activities when he returned.
"I am already a senior, and the school does not force me to attend classes." Deng Kai then said.
"I..." Only Tang Yan hesitated.
"I'll give you a week to promote your movie with the crew!" Tang An said.
"In the next month, I will ask several magicians to give you one-on-one tutoring, and the four of you will work together to complete at least one drama every week to cultivate your stage sense and tacit understanding."
One play a week!
We have to practice magic and rehearse plays. Although time is tight, Deng Chao was an actor at the National Theater before, Liu Ye has been filming plays for nearly ten years, and Tang Yan has performed in the Olympics and will not have stage fright.
Although Deng Kai has not graduated yet, he had originally planned to go to the Shanghai Theater with Cheng He and had been an intern for a period of time, so there was no problem.
Unexpectedly, Tang An hadn't finished speaking yet, "In addition, I will have people arrange a large number of performances for you, with various specifications, mainly singing and dancing. Please relax a little and don't tighten it too much."
Find the feeling of being on stage!”
This was actually prepared for Tang Yan. When he performed it, he still wasn't open enough. The most important thing about that kind of escape magic is to arouse the audience's emotions and make them nervous. This is half the battle.
...
Tang An didn't bother with the remaining minor supporting roles and let Zhao Jun handle it directly. After confirming all the actors, the list was announced.
At the same time, the investment cost was also reported to the outside world as a whole 150 million.
The production cost is 70 million, and there is no upper limit on promotional expenses. It is normal to quote 150 million.
This list of starring actors has once again caused quite a stir in the Lunar New Year festival.
It's just that these actors don't have a "star flavor" at all.
The cost of "Shark Beach" is low, so there's no way around it. "Terror Cruise" still has Xu Jinglei, the combination of Li Binbin and Cheng Daoming in "Super Body" is not bad, and "The Wind" has two leading actresses and a lot of veteran actors.
Starry.
But now, the investment in "Now You See Me" has almost matched the sum of the previous four movies, and the lineup has become even more shabby.
Although Deng Chao has made several TV series, they are just TV series. The only movie he has produced, "Assembly Number", has not yet been released.
The other "Terror Cruise" and "Superbodies" are minor roles.
When Zhang Hanyu starred as the male lead in "Assembly", he was questioned a lot. He also starred as the villain in "Super Body" and the male lead in "The Wind".
There was no problem with Liu Ye playing the second male lead, but he played the supporting role for Deng Chao.
Tang Yan, a half-newcomer, went straight to the stage of becoming a heroine with a huge investment of 200 million, which aroused many unhealthy conjectures.
"Deng Chao plays the male lead? Did he write the wrong name? Liu Ye can do it too. How many movies has Deng Chao made?"
"Now I have some doubts about what kind of movie this is. This lineup doesn't look like a group of shocking thieves!"
"The cost of hiring these actors is 150 million. The crew is too stingy. Where did the money go?"
Yes, the cost is 150 million. These actors are less than 10 million in total, so where did the money go?
The audience and the media reacted instantly. Even if 150 million people have water, then 100 million people should have water.
Then the problem comes, the money has not been spent on actors, and we cannot spend so much on publicity, so there is only one possibility left.
Special effects!
Thinking of the scenes in "Superman" again, some people immediately speculated that "Now You See Me" must have a lot of special effects.
On Saturday, December 8th, Huayi announced the detailed information of the movie.
No one paid attention to other things. Everyone focused on the type column. There were two more words next to the original word "crime".
magic!
Everyone suddenly exclaimed, it turned out that the magic thief meant stealing using magic.
This is truly a type that has never been seen before in China!
Although magic did not really become popular in China until Liu Qian performed magic in the 2009 Spring Festival Gala, in the past few years, there have been many magicians performing in the Spring Festival Gala, and the audience is not unfamiliar with this thing.
But how to steal using magic?
"I really didn't expect it. It turned out to be a magic theme. I'm very curious about how to use magic to steal!"
"The subject matter is very novel. I hope Tang An will make it as exciting as his previous movies. I'm looking forward to it!"
"Magic is magic. Don't do it all with the help of machines. That would be beside the point!"
"How about direct hypnosis? Hypnotize all the people in the bank and make them take out their money obediently!"
"They're probably trying to sell themselves off. If magic is really that good, why don't you just take a shit class and learn magic? To put it bluntly, it's all fake. It must be using some high-tech equipment!"
...
In the fiercely competitive Lunar New Year period, with both blockbusters launching large-scale publicity campaigns, "Now You See Me" still occupies some of the entertainment news pages.
Four days later, Tang An became one of the biggest stars when he attended the premiere ceremony of "The Call to Action". The reporters surrounding him were second only to Li Lianlian and Liu Dehua, and much more than the host, Chen Kexin.
"Director Tang, how did you come up with the idea of making a movie about magic?"
"This is actually an idea that suddenly came to me when I was watching the Spring Festival Gala. I thought magic was very interesting. Later, I found some videos of well-known magicians at home and abroad. After more than half a year of consideration, I decided to make a magic-themed movie!"
"So Director Tang, what kind of magic tricks can you shoot?"
"Everyone can tell this from the title of the film. The so-called shocking, it will definitely shock the world. I will show a magic trick that the audience has never seen before in the film!" Tang An said with a smile.
"Then why did Mr. Tang choose Deng Chao to play the leading role? Is the 150 million cost announced by Huayi true?"
"Of course it's true!"
Tang An nodded, "Deng Chao was an actor in the National Theater before. Needless to say, his acting skills are also very strong, and he has a strong stage sense. He is very suitable for a role like a magician who also performs on the stage!"
"Our film will be shot in many foreign cities, and most of the cost will also be used in the production of the film."
...
After all, it was someone else's home stadium. After a few casual interviews, Tang Anbian walked into the infield of the Olympic Sports Center.
Holding the premiere at the Olympic Sports Center is a big enough event.
From a distance, Yu Dong saw Tang An and came up to him, "Haha, Director Tang, welcome to the premiere!"
"Hello, Mr. Yu, look at this lineup, it's even bigger than "The City of Golden Armor", so I wish you a big hit at the box office!" Tang An said with a smile.
"Borrowing Tang to guide auspicious words."
Yu Dong seemed to be in a good mood and was obviously very confident about the film.
He wanted to greet other people, but when Tang An saw Han Sanping coming, he went up to say hello.
"Director Han, you are here too!"
"It's Director Tang. It's amazing that the media and the audience got wind of your movie before it even started shooting. It's amazing!" Han Sanping laughed.
"Dr. Han is joking, it's just something new these two days!" Tang An waved his hand.
"Director Tang's magic-themed movie has added a new genre to the country. Speaking of which, we have to thank you!" said the boss of a medium-sized film and television company next to him.
"Yes, low-budget horror films have sold much better in the past two years than before. I have to thank Director Tang for opening up the market!" Another boss next to him also said.
"You two are overly praised. As long as the film is well made, there will naturally be audiences to watch it. It actually has nothing to do with me!" Tang An said repeatedly.
After chatting for a while, Han Sanping suddenly asked about the schedule.
"When is Director Tang's film going to be released? Is it still a summer release?"
Facing Han Sanping's smiling gaze, Tang An said naturally, "We still have to wait and see when the movie will be finished. This time we have to go to several countries for filming, and with the actor's training, I don't know if I can make it in time for the summer release. In addition,
It depends on what Director Wang wants."
Han Sanping smiled and stopped asking. He believed that Tang An and Wang Zhongjun would not compete for the summer movie as long as they were not confused. An epic historical war blockbuster with an investment of 600 million, with a big director + big stars + big investment, is destined to be a big hit.
Yes, there is no need to lose both sides.
At 6 p.m., the premiere officially started, and thousands of movie theaters across the country also let audiences in at the same time.
"The Letter of Entitlement" is not released from zero o'clock, it is a total of 6 hours from 6 pm to early morning on the first day.
In just these 6 hours, "Certificate of Voting" still received 10 million box office!
The first weekend's five-day sales were nearly 90 million, which was better than the opening results of "The Wind".
Although the results are very good, the audience and media reputation are also very high, and the movie is one of the top costume blockbusters in history from all aspects.
Even if we look at the next 10 years, it will be difficult for a costume movie to surpass it.
Even with the usual weaknesses of previous costume movies, there is no problem with the plot of "The Name of the Name". Li Lianlian's acting skills are perfect, and the performances of Liu Dehua, Jin Chengwu, and Xu Jinglei are also top-notch.
The camera, action, art, dubbing, lighting, scenery... are all top-notch in China.
However, the movie is too heavy after all. The whole movie is full of dark tones, sad music, desolate and cruel war scenes, and there is no place where the audience can even see hope.
Even if Li Lianlian accepted the reward and became the governor of Liangjiang, it was full of calculations and conspiracies.
A film like this is bound to not be too successful if placed in the Lunar New Year festival, a time when happiness is needed.
In the second week, with the release of "Assembly", the seven-day box office dropped sharply, only taking in 53 million.
Although "Assembly Number" only earned 15 million on its first day of release, it earned 70 million in four days during its first weekend, which is a little worse than "The Legend".
However, this was despite the fact that there was a blockbuster film in the same period. It was quite good to suppress the opponent to this drop in the second week.
As of December 30, "The Legend" had grossed 173 million in box office within 19 days of its release.
"Assembly" grossed 145 million in 11 days after its release. The difference between the two is less than 3,000. With the current trend, it has basically won the Lunar New Year box office championship.
Moreover, on the day after it was released, CCTV devoted one minute and nine seconds to reporting on "Assembly", and agencies and schools from all over the country began to book theaters on a large scale.
Even surpassing "The Wind" and becoming the annual box office champion this year is just around the corner!
With two main theme movies that have exceeded 100 million yuan, the media have claimed that the spring of main themes is coming.
2007 has passed and 2008 is coming.
The preliminary preparations for "Now You See Me" have basically been completed, and filming can begin in less than a week.
But before that, Tang An has to attend Huayi's annual meeting this year!