As the boss of New Picture, Zhang Weiping was the equal of Wang Zhongjun and Yu Dong in the past few years.
Such a big shot in the entertainment industry always has to personally go out to promote Zhang Yimou's new film when it is released.
And the momentum he created every time was not small. During the filming of "Hawthorn Tree Love" last year, the stills that were secretly photographed included the scene of the male protagonist "Lao San" riding a bicycle with the heroine "Jing Qiu", which was warm and simple.
When asked about it at that time, Zhang Weiping said with a pun: "We will laugh while sitting on the bicycle, let others cry in the BMW."
At that time, a female guest on "If You Are the One" said, "I would rather cry in a BMW than laugh on a bicycle."
Zhang Weiping's words attracted quite a bit of attention.
There was also "Three Guns" in 2009. When Zhang Weiping was interviewed by reporters, the reporter mentioned that some people in the film industry believed that the total investment in "Three Guns" might not exceed 10 million.
Zhang Weiping said directly, "People in the film industry always think of five words when they watch Zhang Yimou's movies: envy, jealousy, and hate."
I can understand, you see I never interact with people in the film industry.
These words are so domineering, and envy, jealousy and hatred have become one of Zhang Weiping's classic sayings.
There are many similar situations. The two have been working together for so many years. When Zhang Yimou makes a film, Zhang Weiping is like the butler. He does the promotion himself and dares to challenge theaters for distribution.
Today Zhang Weiping accepted an interview with Xinlang and talked about the previous issue of "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" not providing copies to Bernard's cinemas.
"There are no movies in the cinema, it's just a pile of chairs!" Zhang Weiping opened his mouth.
The incident stemmed from Zhang Weiping's previous criticism of Yu Dong's movie theaters for not clearing the box office of "Three Guns" and "The Hawthorn Tree", and his decision not to provide copies of "The Thirteen Beauties" to Bernard's movie theaters.
Xinlang host asked: "Dr. Zhang, are you a little bit tit-for-tat with Bernard?"
Zhang Weiping: "It doesn't matter. This is a contract. It only happens three or two times. You didn't pay me for "Three Guns" and this happened again for "Hawthorn Tree." If it were you, would you stop?
So it’s not tit-for-tat. First, I don’t know Yu Dong and I haven’t said a word to him until now.
Isn't there a saying on the Internet, "I'm really not familiar with you."
Second, I just feel that if you act in accordance with the contract and you have no integrity as a listed company, I will definitely sanction you."
We have been old rivals for more than ten years. After fighting all the way, they actually said, "I really don't know you well."
After criticizing Yu Dong for a few words, the host asked about the box office expectations of "The Thirteen Hairpins of Jinling".
"1.5 billion." Zhang Weiping said without thinking.
The reporter smiled and asked, "Dr. Zhang, will you feel any pressure if you tell this number in public?"
Zhang Weiping said very relaxedly, "There is no pressure, because this must be prepared. As I said just now, we have calculated the box office data in December and January. Of course, when our film is released, its box office will increase."
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The domestic film market has an average box office of 1 billion yuan every month, and December and January are still the most popular, with at least 1.5 billion yuan each month.
This is 3 billion, 3 billion. Let’s not exceed 1.5 billion, and there is still 1.5 billion for them to share.
In addition, Christian Bale is invited to star this time, and the Hollywood War production team is among the best in the world, including Zhang Yimou. Especially after directing the Beijing Olympics, his influence around the world is also huge. His overseas
The number of spectators is also huge.”
Zhang Weiping got so addicted to bragging that he didn't wait for the host to answer, and continued, "Now there are three companies in Hollywood talking to me about the agency of this film, so I will collect 1.5 billion from domestic sources, and I will take back at least 1.5 billion."
600 million.
Once the costs are back, I have to earn 200 million, otherwise I won’t be able to afford such a big investment.
How big a big deal is having more than 30 million US dollars in Hollywood?
With an actor like Bale starring, let's not say that his "Batman" made 1 billion U.S. dollars, but let's say it made 100 million U.S. dollars at the box office?
No problem, it has to be more than "Heroes", right?
Therefore, I must have come prepared, so 600 million is the highest investment in domestic film history, but our film market needs to be stimulated in this way, and it would be bad if everyone does not end up playing house."
It opened with a box office of 1.5 billion, and secretly mocked a wave of other movies. You are the one who is a blockbuster and contributes to the domestic film market, while others are just playing house.
Speaking of the investment cost of 600 million, the host had questions again.
"Director Zhang's film has always attracted a lot of attention, especially the record investment of 600 million. Can you tell me where the money was spent?"
Zhang Weiping said, "I'm not an accountant, but if you know a little bit about these teams, you should know it clearly when you look at the production team and the stars they hired.
An investment of 600 million yuan is very large in China. In Hollywood, you are a medium-sized investment. Hollywood movies often invest 230 million U.S. dollars.
Only big productions can hire big stars. Hollywood blockbusters are not scripts. The directors impress the superstars, but the big commercial productions impress the superstars.
Since when have domestic films invited Hollywood A-list stars to work here? Have they?
Don’t all your directors go to Hollywood to work for people? If you make movies in China, they are purely local movies. If people don’t come, you won’t give them money.
But we did it because of this 600 million investment!”
Zhang Weiping was full of pride when he said this. He said that Bell came to work for him.
Indeed, none of the top Hollywood stars has starred in a purely local film, let alone a leading actor.
Finally, we talked about the movie release.
"December 16th happens to be the release date of my "Hero", and "Hero" was released on December 16th that year.
It has been 10 years. In order to commemorate the 10th anniversary of "Hero", December 16 this year is "Jinling Thirteen Hairpins". 10 years is exactly a reincarnation.
Ten years ago, "Hero" ushered in the era of blockbusters in the mainland, and there were real commercial blockbusters.
I believe that today, ten years later, "Jinling Thirteen Hairpins" will repeat what happened ten years ago and once again open a new chapter for domestic films!"
During the Lunar New Year this year, facing the two major rivals, the combination of Xu Ke + Li Lianjie and Tang An, Zhang Weiping also frequently spoke out in interviews.
Although he didn't talk about the two movies "The Martian" and "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate", and he didn't diss Tang An, he just bombarded Bernard again and again.
This is not the first time. The feud between New Picture and Bernard has lasted for more than ten years, and they have been at odds with each other countless times.
As for the so-called arrears of box office share, it just means that it has been delayed for a little longer.
Yu Dong was also unceremonious. When interviewed by reporters, he directly stated that Bernard's cinemas would not show "The Thirteen Hairpins" and that most of the films scheduled would be "Naruto to the Rescue" and "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate".
Zhang Weiping doesn't care that there are less than 100 cinemas in Bernard. The distributors of "Jinling Thirteen Hairpins" are China Film and China Film. The two major theaters of China Film and Television, New Film Alliance and China Film Digital, are among the top five in the country.
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All he wants is heat and attention.
The director didn't end up arguing and just sat quietly doing their own promotions while the two producers got to work.
Tang An couldn't look at it. He opened his mouth and shouted that he would monopolize half of the 3 billion and wanted to get 1.5 billion at the box office. Tang An didn't show any weakness.
Event site.
The reporter asked, "Director Tang, Zhang Weiping said that "Jinling Thirteen Hairpins" can earn 1.5 billion at the box office and win the Lunar New Year war. What do you want to say?"
"I think what Director Zhang said is very interesting. He only accounts for half of the box office during the Lunar New Year. It's a bit like the famous Southern Dynasty poet Xie Lingyun's saying, "The world has one stone, but Cao Zijian only has eight buckets." Tang An joked.
"So Director Tang, how much box office do you think "The Thirteen Beauties" can get?"
"I think it should be half of "The Martian". After all, the box office cannot be lower than the investment. Wouldn't it be too ugly?" Tang An said with a smile.
When facing interviews, Tang An can be regarded as "telling the truth".
However, the words reached Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping immediately responded.
Zhang Yimou was relatively polite at first and just said that he would see real results at the box office.
Zhang Weiping has fully proved why he has the nickname "Big Mouth". He is much better at quarreling with people than Feng Xiaogang.
Naturally, Xu Ke was also involved, and the three parties started arguing.
Now that the Internet is becoming more and more developed, Weibo, as a social media, has completely entered into people's lives.
The mutual hostility between the three major directors has also attracted more and more attention.
Tang An said that the box office of "The Thirteen Hairpins" will not be half that of "The Martian".
Zhang Weiping said that the combined box office of the two movies "The Martian" and "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" will not be as high as "The Thirteen Beauties".
Later, he even directly said that Tang An’s dominance in the summer and New Year festivals in the past few years was entirely due to his luck in not meeting Zhang Yimou.
Xu Ke is a little less confident, but this time he collaborates with Jet Li in a martial arts film, and he is confident that he will win the Lunar New Year box office championship.
The three big directors plus Zhang Weiping and Yu Dong, and the minions from the three companies, spent tens of millions of dollars in cash, and the quarrel turned upside down.
The media also happily rushed between them, and provocative press releases flew out like snowflakes.
Naturally, their respective movie fans are also arguing endlessly. Tang An has achieved great success in the past seven years. Zhang Yimou single-handedly started the era of domestic blockbusters, and it was also the first time that he faced Tang An head-on.
Although Xu Ke was almost there, together with Li Lianjie, he managed to form a tripartite stance in public opinion.
It was rare for Tang An to quarrel with others. Most people would be too lazy to criticize him, so he would lose his temper.
On December 7, 2011, after all the turmoil, the Lunar New Year holiday officially began. The first blockbuster "The Martian" will have a grand premiere ceremony at the Xinao Store of Hantang International Cinemas.
This time, the premiere was not held in any stadium or auditorium, but was held in the giant screen hall with 1,000 people in our own movie theater, which can be regarded as driving traffic.
Now there is no need to rely on large-scale premieres for publicity. 35 million yuan in publicity fees have been spent in the first 20 days or so. Tang An did not leave any of the 100 million publicity budget, leaving the Propaganda Department and Public Relations Department to work in a short time.
Spend all your time.
This year's first blockbuster for the Lunar New Year, although there were only 1,000 seats, there were not many people who came. Even movie fans who did not grab tickets for the premiere came to watch a grand red carpet show.
, waiting for the start of the zero point field.
At 5:30 p.m., Tang An arrived with the actors.
The moment Tang An stepped on the red carpet, countless fans at the scene burst into the warmest applause and cheers, and the momentum was not much smaller than in the tens of thousands of people in the stadium.
After getting off the red carpet, we dealt with reporters and then went to the screening room.
The reporters didn't have any new questions anymore. They had asked all the questions they could think of in the past half month. Even those that Tang An didn't answer directly would be answered.
The guests have almost arrived, and Chen Guofu and Xu Manyun are greeting them.
Wang Zhongjun, Yu Dong, Wang Changtian, Song Ge and others are here. Outside the film industry, there are also Tudou CEO Wang Wei, Xinlang.com CEO Cao Wei, Ucceo Yu Yongfu, and Cheng Wu, Vice President of Tengxun Group in charge of the interactive entertainment business group.
Zhang Hongsheng and Han Sanping, deputy directors of the Optoelectronic Film Bureau, also came.
Tang An stepped forward and greeted them one by one, "Boss Zhang and Director Han, welcome."
Zhang Hongsheng smiled and said, "Director Tang, we are really looking forward to you defeating "Avatar" and regaining our country's own record."
Tang An nodded and said, "What Director Zhang said, we cannot let imported movies dominate our records."
Tang An chatted with the leader for a while, greeted other company bosses, and waited until 7 o'clock for the premiere to officially begin.
It’s still the host of the movie channel, Tu Wei, and a filming crew. It will be broadcast on the movie channel in two days.
Tang An led the crew onto the stage, looked around, and said slowly, "First of all, I would like to thank all the audiences present for supporting me as always. Thank you for coming. It gives me more confidence in this movie."
After talking politely, Tang An talked about some of his thoughts on the shooting.
Liu Ye, Li Binbin, and Li Youbing also said something.
More than an hour later, Tang An sat down in his seat, waiting for the movie to start.
Both movie fans and industry insiders at the scene also wore 3D glasses and were ready to enjoy Tang An's new film.
The quality of Tang An's movies cannot be overemphasized. The past seven years have been enough to prove it. Fans behind it were still chattering in whispers before the movie started.
"I have been waiting for a year and it is finally coming out. It is said that 80% of the scenes in this film are played by Liu Ye alone."
"It should be like this. Didn't Tang An say that this is the Mars version of "Cast Away"? I hope Liu Ye can be as good as Tom Hanks."
"Tom Hanks is still on Earth after all, but Liu Ye was just dumped on Mars alone."
"It's scarier than living on a desert island. There are no animals or plants on Mars."
"Looking at the trailer, it seems that you need to grow potatoes to get food to survive. If potatoes can be grown on Mars, then it will be possible to immigrate."
"It was written by x**. I believe it. The screenwriter has never been to Mars."
Amid the expectant chatter from the audience, the 20-meter-high IMAX screen in front slowly lit up, and an earth-yellow planet appeared on the big screen. The opening scene was a barren Martian road.
The entire land, including the picture, is dark yellow, desolate and sad.
A five-second wide-angle long shot, the audience follows the camera over mountains and hills, and has a comprehensive view of the surface of Mars thousands of miles away.
Several astronauts are sitting on the surface to collect soil samples. There are small flags on the ground to mark each area.
The astronauts were chatting on the communicator while working, but then a storm came and yellow sand was flying all over the sky. Under the realistic special effects and 3D effects, there were waves of shouts on the scene.
Some spectators even waved their hands unconsciously, trying to wave away the wind and sand in front of them, as if they were stretching out in the storm.
Liu Ye was hit by a signal receiver during the storm, and the aerospace team had to leave after searching to no avail.
Liu Ye was the only one left on Mars. Thinking about the desolation on Mars, I couldn't help but feel a sense of despair. At the same time, I became even more curious about how Liu Ye survived on Mars and how he returned to Earth safely.
The audience's emotions were immediately aroused and they were completely involved in the plot from the beginning.
"The 3D effect is very realistic. The storm just now was so real that I felt like my body was being blown."
"I closed my eyes subconsciously."
"You must have been hit by something just now. You must have been injured. How did you survive?"