Chapter Five Hundred and Fiftieth Chapter Four Thousand Characters Chapter of Operation Mekong
In mid-July, the summer war was still going on, but the battle was not as intense as before.
Before the summer movie was released, everyone thought that this year's summer movie would be nothing more than a few situations.
Chen Kaige became the king with "Search" when there was no tiger in the mountain, saving the face of a great director.
Otherwise, Guangxian could replicate the marketing miracle of last year's "Painting on the Wall", add two popular stars, and the subject is familiar to the audience, and it would explode.
Otherwise, all domestic films will be sold out.
No one expected that "Tiny Times" would come out of nowhere. There would be no big names in the summer movie, and Guo Jinming would be the king. It's really funny.
Although the trend in the second week was not good, with only 160 million in seven days, the total box office in two weeks and eleven days exceeded 350 million.
During the same period, "Search" was released for 10 days, with a total box office of 110 million.
The cost was 30 million, and it exceeded 100 million in 10 days. The reputation was pretty good, and it was well-received and a hit. For ordinary directors, it would have been praised to the sky.
But after all, Brother Chen Kai was once a director who reached the altar, so this is nothing.
In addition, "Tiny Times", which also cost 30 million, received 350 million in box office in 11 days. By comparison, the co-author is not as good as Guo Jinming.
As soon as Brother Chen Kai appeared in public, some reporters actually compared him with Guo Jinming, which made him quite disgusted.
"Famous", which was released a week later in the same period, also did well at the box office, earning 86 million in the first four days. Compared with the production cost of 60 million, Guang Xian's film can be considered a success.
It's just that the marketing effect of selling meat this time is not as good as that of "Painting on the Wall". Most of the more tempting scenes are in the trailer. The audience who walked into the cinema with high expectations were disappointed, just like the gourd baby who had been sleeping all night.
There is also a movie "Detective Hunter Zhang" also released by Guangxian, which won the Best Picture at the Golden Horse Award last year.
However, there has never been a market for this kind of realistic drama, and it only took in less than 5 million at the box office in three days.
Others such as "Hot Street" and "BMW Rhapsody" didn't make waves at all, but Wang Chuanjun's performance in the former was very different from his image in "Love Apartment", and he was the one who got rid of the role the best among them.
There is only one low-budget horror film "Pen Sin" starring Guo Jingfei and Mei Ting that did well at the box office, earning 35 million in seven days.
This is basically the beginning of the entire summer season. The box office of "Tiny Times" is higher than that of other movies combined. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a sweep.
Although Tang An has been away from summer movies for three years, this time he still swept the summer movies with his self-released movies.
Tang An has nothing to do with the turmoil of the summer season. After half a year of preparation, he is about to start filming "Interstellar".
At the Four Seasons Hotel near the company, the launch conference is underway.
Tang An brought the main actors onto the stage. In addition to the main actors, other actors were also found one after another.
Liu Ye, Yang Mi, Wan Qian, Wu Gang, Ni Dahong, Liu Haoran, Zhang Zifeng, Zhang Yi, Wang Chuanjun, Lu Zhong, Fu Dalong and Zhang Bo are all good actors
On the stage, Tang An first introduced the movie "Interstellar".
"Welcome everyone to attend the launch conference of "Interstellar". This movie, like "Edge of Tomorrow" and "The Martian", is still a science fiction theme."
"Science fiction, in my opinion, is scientific fantasy. For example, some viewers in "Edge of Tomorrow" said that the mechas in it were not aggressive enough, high-end, and too crude. In fact, exoskeleton mechas are the most in line with scientific fantasy.
Now exoskeleton robots have been put into use in the medical field, and the United States and other countries are also developing this type of individual combat equipment. It may be put into production and use in a few years or more than ten years."
"Compared to the mechas in "Edge of Tomorrow," the imagination of "The Martian" is much further, because so far, no country in the world has sent astronauts to Mars, and our country has even sent astronauts to Mars.
We have never started exploring Mars, but I believe that with the development of science, one day in the future, we can do the plot in "The Martian" in reality."
"Compared to these two movies, "Interstellar" has a larger space for imagination. The background of the movie is that before the end of the world, the earth is no longer suitable for human habitation. Even many crops cannot or are no longer suitable for planting. Only
Corn and a few other crops.”
"The movie will show the end of the world in my imagination. Human beings are actively looking for planets suitable for survival. Not only the solar system, but also the Milky Way."
It was a long talk, and the more he talked, the more excited he became.
After finally finishing speaking, the actors introduced themselves and talked a little about their respective roles and thoughts.
After listening to it all, the reporters present put it all together, but they still couldn't figure out what kind of story it was.
The end of the world, immigrants to alien planets, the male and female protagonists are both astronauts, the heroine has a father, the male protagonist has children, and they are still in two forms: a child and an adult.
It seems that the time span is relatively long, but why does Teacher Lu Zhong also play the role of the hero's daughter?
From about 10 years old to 70 years old, such a span!
Wasn't the male protagonist already dead?
The male protagonist is dead, I get excited just thinking about it. This is the first time in Tang An’s movie that the main character dies.
The senior executives of major companies in the audience were also puzzled. Generally, the endings of commercial movies must be relatively happy, and the protagonists rarely die.
Except for some films that pursue artistry and depth, there are very few films that do this.
Is it possible that Tang An wants to play with pathos and depth?
Everyone was thinking this.
However, Tang An also gave an answer when asked on stage.
"The movie will involve space wormholes and time travel. The spaceship will go to another galaxy through the wormhole. Time passes at different speeds in other galaxies and the solar system, just like in our ancient legends, one day in the sky and one year underground." Tang An
Explain with a smile.
Everyone understands this. The hero went to another galaxy, where time flows slowly, but time passes relatively faster on Earth.
It will also happen that the children are as old as the father, or even the children grow old first while the father is still so young.
It became more and more complicated, and reporters became more and more interested and continued to ask questions.
A launch conference lasted for more than two hours before ending, followed by a luncheon.
During a launch press conference, Yu Dong and the others took the time to come, and Tang An just dealt with it.
Zhang Zhaoyi, the president of LeTV Pictures, toasted Tang An twice. As the main producer of "Tiny Times", it was also the first film LeTV invested in, but it made them a huge profit.
Others are also jealous. Who wouldn't want such a dark horse with an investment of only 30 million?
Especially since "Tiny Times" has a sequel, and Guo Jinming has written more than just one book.
In fact, after the popularity of "Tiny Times", some of them have been eyeing well-known best-selling authors. Yu Dong even personally found Han Han and wanted to adapt one of his best-selling books and let him have a director's name as a gimmick.
I'm afraid only Wang Changtian is unhappy. The box office of "Four Famous Catchers" with an investment of 60 million was less than half of that of "Tiny Times" in the same period.
However, Wang Changtian did not show it, and "Tiny Times" did not squeeze the space of "Four Famous Catchers".
The capacity of the summer schedule is enough to accommodate two movies worth 780 million yuan. This is still a problem with the movies themselves.
After the luncheon, Yu Dong found Tang An alone and talked about the Mekong River tragedy that had been a hot topic some time ago.
"Dong Yu intends to rewrite this matter?" Tang An asked curiously.
"That's what I mean, mainly because Lin Chaoxian has an idea and wants to ask Director Tang for his opinion." Yu Dong nodded.
The action movie "Guild Wars" that Lin Chaoxian is filming was invested by Bernard. In the past two months, the criminal leader was escorted back to Beijing. The Thai military also issued an arrest warrant for those soldiers. The matter has almost been finalized.
Yu Dong was also thinking about Tang An's investment in the military film "Wolf Warrior" and asked him what he thought. After all, Tang An never missed a beat in the movie he liked.
"It's not impossible to film it. I heard that CCTV is planning to film the TV series "The Mekong River", but let's forget about it for the next two years." Tang An shook his head.
"Oh, what should I say?" Yu Dong asked.
"We all know what's going on in Thailand. If we go to shoot this movie at this sensitive time, we have to risk the lives of the entire crew," Tang An advised.
The Thai military and government have always been at odds with each other. The government cannot command the military and resorts to coups at every turn.
The Thai government is pro-China, and the military is pro-British and American.
The Mekong River tragedy was originally very strange. Those Thai soldiers did not hand it over to our country in the end, but punished themselves.
During the investigation, the other party was initially prepared to pin the blame on Laos, but later refused to allow our country to send people into Thailand to arrest them.
It was the old socialist brother Laos that allowed Chinese soldiers to enter Laos. Laos also made great efforts in solving the case and arresting the police. The police under the jurisdiction of the Thai government also helped. It is good that the Thai army did not cause trouble.
If it was really led by the Thai army and they went to film this movie on someone else's territory at this time, if the other party got impulsive and did something, it would be a risk to the lives of hundreds of people.
Not to mention those human factors, the Golden Triangle is not safe. Originally, Lin Chaoxian was bitten by a giant centipede and went into shock while filming. He had to be rescued.
Later, everyone on the crew was given serum to prevent any unexpected events.
As for risking your life for filming, why take the risk if you can't?
Even going to Africa is safer than going to the Golden Triangle for filming now. At least, Africa has Chinese influence and can be protected.
Yu Dong thought about it, the time is too sensitive now, even if he wanted to take pictures, the superiors would not allow it.
"By the way, Director Yu, isn't Lin Chaoxian his apprentice from Cheng Jiashang? Why didn't he come to Guangxian to find you? And didn't he also film "Reverse War" invested by Huayi before?" Tang An asked again.
"Guang Xian can't make this movie. Hua Yi signed six or seven directors in one go. He can't come to you, so he can only come to me." Yu Dong said with a smile.
Also, Guangxian has no government background, but Hua Yi has made military films and has some connections with the military.
Needless to say, Bernard's early cooperation with Poly also established a deep personal relationship. Don't forget that Poly used to be in the arms business, and behind it was the General Staff and Junwei.
Moreover, the original "Operation Mekong" was produced by Huang Jianxin, a first-class producer in the country, an old classmate of Han Sanping, a core figure of the fifth generation, and a senior executive of China Film Group. He was also the producer of blockbuster films such as "The Letter of Investment" and "October Siege" invested by Bernard.
As for the Han and Tang media, they were rich, had publicity and connections, but Lin Chaoxian’s master was Cheng Jiashang.
"But isn't Dong Dong cooperating with Xu Ke? He and Cheng Jiashang are sworn enemies."
"Hey, Xu Ke went to Huayi to film the second part of "Detective Dee". I can't keep him." Yu Dong sighed.
"Then Yu Dong can recruit Lin Chaoxian. He is very good at action and explosion scenes, but we should wait for a few years for this matter to subside before making this film." Tang An advised.
"Yeah, it's too difficult to find a good director. Let's wait for two years. I'll also wait for Tang Dong's "Wolf Warrior" to be released and see the response." Yu Dong laughed.
"That will definitely not disappoint Yu Dong, let's see." Tang An said with a smile.
After finishing dealing with it, Tang An came to the hotel's large conference room.
The four-month shooting cycle is about to begin, and it’s too late if we don’t turn on the camera.
Before leaving, I still need to explain some things about the company.
All senior executives in the conference room arrived. When Tang An came in, they greeted them one by one.
"Tang Dong."
"Chairman."
Tang An sat down at the main seat and waved his hand, "No need to be polite, let's get down to business."
"The company has several movies to be released this year. The publicity department and distribution department must do a good job in publicity and marketing. For movies that other companies are seeking to distribute, they can do a thorough investigation and add them if there is no problem. The publicity and distribution aspects will be based on the evaluation.
"
"Mr. Zhuang, Mr. Li, the TV drama business department and the film business department will also have a lot of film and television production business in the next year. There are also Tudou Pictures and Hantang Film and Television Production. If you need anything, please help me."
"Mr. Liu, Wuzhou's distribution will focus on "Hong Kong" first. If you need any help, the group's distribution department will support you."
"Mr. Qu, the cinema construction of the cinema chain cannot be stopped, and more qualified cinemas must be attracted. However, it cannot be the same as Dadi Cinema Line, which accepts all kinds of crooked melons and jujubes. It must be strictly inspected!"
"Mr. Wu, the follow-up financing of several companies currently involved in the company's financing will also follow up, as well as the shares of Tudou Group and Hantang Literature."
Tang An thought for a while and asked, "To what extent is the acquisition of the variety show production company discussed?"
"It has reached the substantive stage. There are two companies." Wu Feng replied.
"Keep one company and put it into the Variety Show Division, and the other company will be injected into Tudou Pictures after the acquisition is completed." Tang An ordered.
"Okay Chairman!" Wu Feng nodded in agreement.
After all departments made clear explanations, Tang An and the actors were ready to set off.
The first filming location was Vatnajökull Glacier in Iceland. It was still summer, so we filmed the scenes there first.
After I finished shooting, I happened to go to Northeast Mohe. The corn was almost mature by then. It would have been too cold to do it later. This season is just right.
I left the indoor scenes until the end.
The spacecraft had been dismantled a week ago and transported to Iceland by large transport aircraft. It was then transported to the glacier by truck and assembled on site.
The crew had already gone to prepare, and Tang An took Liu Ye, Yang Mi, Fu Dalong and the others there.
Tang An warned the other actors, "Everyone who doesn't have a role during this period should prepare well. If there is any change when the time to join the set is up, the crew will notify you separately."
"Okay Director Tang."
"Don't worry, Director Tang."
It was not easy for everyone to get noticed by Tang An. Although it was only a small role, it was a rare opportunity for them.
Whether it is Zhang Bo, Zhang Yi, or Wang Chuanjun, who is famous for "Love Apartment", they all urgently need to prove themselves on the big screen.