In the evening, after the premiere, Tang An held a banquet in the hotel at the Olympic Sports Center next door to entertain the guests.
"Congratulations, Mr. Tang. The premiere was a success. There will definitely be no problem breaking the record this time."
"Tang Dong's film really won't disappoint anyone. I was a little moved when I watched it."
"There seems to be no suspense about who will be the box office champion this year. It just depends on how high the record can be hit."
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Several bosses watched the movie carefully. From a professional's point of view, the movie had no problems in terms of persuasion, plot, and rhythm. There were laughs and tears, and the audience's warm applause after the movie was over.
It shows that at least the audience is satisfied.
Even though most of the audience attending the premiere are senior movie fans and movie lovers, they are basically fans of Tang An, and they will be somewhat biased towards Tang An.
Just like at the premiere of "Private Custom", the response was good, but the reputation was bad.
But this time the audience's reaction was much stronger, just like Tang An's previous movies.
With a good reputation, a broad enough audience for comedy and inspirational themes, and Tang An's appeal, it is inevitable that it will become a hit.
Several bosses secretly sighed inwardly. After all, "Transformers 4" is on track to hit two billion at the box office. There was some hope of breaking Tang An's monopoly, but now the hope is getting smaller and smaller.
Tang An watched everyone congratulate each other, and he could probably guess what they were thinking.
I had a drink with them and said with a smile, "Thank you, but it's still too early. We have to wait until at least the first working day's data comes out before we can make a conclusion."
"Haha, Mr. Tang is being humble. Tomorrow's pre-sale will already be 50 million, right?" Yu Dong said.
Tang An said, "More than 40 million, which is not bad. The box office on the first day should be decent."
The pre-sales of more than 40 million were actually just passable.
Everyone looked at Tang An pretending to be cool as if nothing had happened, and they were filled with curses.
Not to mention 40 million pre-sales, even a movie that can reach 40 million at the box office on the first day will not be able to release many movies in a year.
Wang Changtian analyzed, "Judging from this pre-sale, it is likely to approach 200 million on the first day."
Tang An said, "Two hundred million is too difficult. Tomorrow is not a rest day, and the ticket price of 2D movies is a disadvantage."
Today's box office is about four or five times the pre-sale box office, but it also depends on the type. After all, different types of movies have different audiences and different ticket buying habits.
Moreover, "Transformers 4" earned nearly 200 million in box office for its three-hour runtime. It was only possible because of the high 3D ticket price and more than 70% of the film schedule.
There are also new movies released at the same time, and "Mysterious Superstar" only has 40% of the schedule, and there is no 3D version, which is a disadvantage.
Wang Zhongjun said with a smile, "This summer schedule is probably about the same as last year. I'm a little glad that there are no movies in Huayi."
Tang An waved his hand and said, "Dr. Wang is joking, "The Wheel" directed by Wu Yusen is about to be released in the Lunar New Year holiday. This is a big production known as the Titanic of the East. It must be very promising in the Lunar New Year holiday. Moreover, "Heroes from Heaven", a collaboration between Director Wang and Yao Lai, will be released soon.
"It's also a major costume production, and it stars Cheng Long, so it's very competitive during the Spring Festival."
"Then I borrow Tang Dong Jiyan. If the combined box office of these two movies can catch up with this "Mysterious Superstar", I will be very satisfied." Wang Zhongjun said with a smile.
Huayi has been quiet this year, but four or five movies will be released in the second half of the year.
In addition to the two romance films, "One Man's Martial Arts" may be affected by "Frozen: Gate of Rebirth". In addition, Ning Hao's "The Road to Flowers" is already released during the National Day holiday. It is estimated that the box office will be high.
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However, Huayi's real focus is on "Taipinglun" and "Heavenly Army". The former is jointly published, but the latter is controlled by Huayi.
Nowadays, there are not many big-name stars who really have box office appeal, and Cheng Long is definitely one of them.
"Zodiac" broke 1 billion, and "Police Story 2013" was different from Cheng Long's previous style, but it still made 600 million.
Wang Zhongjun has so many things going on in the second half of the year, and "Mysterious Superstar" seems to be a big hit again. It is estimated that "Transformers 4" will not be able to escape the same result as the previous two movies, being overwhelmed.
With little hope of stopping Tang An, Wang Zhongjun was already thinking about stopping his preparations and concentrating on marketing for the five or six movies to be released in the second half of the year.
However, Wang Zhongjun still holds on to a glimmer of hope. In the past few years, it has been rare to produce a two-billion-level movie. He doesn't know when the next time will be. He is not willing to let Tang An dominate the box office championship every year.
Everyone else thought the same thing. It would be okay if Tang An just broke the record. Even if he doubled the box office record like Cameron did, it wouldn't matter.
However, major companies cannot accept that someone has won the championship for several consecutive years and has to break his own record every year. Then major companies have really become soy sauce.
There was still harmony at the banquet, and they were still talking and laughing on the surface until the outcome was unclear.
During the summer, all major companies have movies released. At the end of Bernard and in early August, two movies, "We Will Never See You Again" and "The White-Haired Witch: Moonlight Kingdom," were released.
The former is directed by Han Han, and Guo Jinming's films can be hits, so Yu Dong is not worried about the box office failure of "We Will See You Again".
The subject matter of "The White-Haired Witch" is well-known. Although the reputation of the two leading actors in movies has always been bad, it is produced by Xu Ke, who is best at martial arts movies, so it is guaranteed.
There are many movies, including "Tiny Times 3", "Anti-Corruption Storm" and other movies, but there is not a single blockbuster.
When gods fight, no one wants to be affected.
Tang An dealt with several major companies and had a drink with the crew.
"Thank you everyone. The movie is finally released now. I will have to trouble you all a lot in the next month, traveling all over the country."
Everyone quickly raised their glasses and said, "Director Tang, you are so polite. This is what we should do."
"Go back early and have a rest. We will gather on time tomorrow and keep your spirits up."
Tang An gave some instructions and went to a few more directors.
"Director Zhang, Director Feng... thank you for your support. What did you think after watching the movie?"
What else could it be, a simple commercial movie, the whole story is too idealistic and taken for granted.
Zhang Yimou made a mental comment, but still said with a smile, "What can we think? Director Tang's control of the rhythm of the plot is more perfect, and the character creation is also quite good."
Feng Xiaogang laughed and said, "I didn't expect that Tang Dong's comedy would be so good. It looks like I can even retire."
Tang An waved his hand and said, "You're welcome, Director Feng, you are an expert in comedy."
"Actually, I have a question. Many things were not explained in the final ending, including whether the heroine became a big star. Why did Director Tang arrange this?" Feng Xiaogang asked again.
Inspirational, only success is called inspirational.
In the end, the heroine was considered successful, but she only really made it onto the national stage and did not become a big star as expected.
There was no result given for the role of the father. The divorce agreement was not signed. The mother only took it out to scare him.
Tang An laughed and said, "Family issues are a bit sensitive. There are parents and children in the audience, so in the end there is no result. There is also the relationship between two young people. If it is really made into a love movie, it loses the original intention of the movie.
As for the heroine who didn’t become a big star in the end, I think after this process, the applause of thousands of audiences on stage at the end was enough.”
Zhang Yimou secretly shook his head after hearing this. If it were him, either the family could resolve their past grievances and have a heartwarming ending, or they could amplify domestic violence and make domestic violence a social phenomenon one of the main themes. Not only would it further highlight the success of the heroine,
It’s not easy, but it can also make the movie more meaningful and sublimate the theme. There is a high probability that he will choose the latter.
Then Tang An chatted with them about their film, "Old Scoundrel" starring Feng Xiaogang is about to start filming.
The Sino-US co-production blockbuster "The Great Wall" directed by Zhang Yimou is also in preparation. The production cost is US$150 million, and it is a proper A-level production.
In comparison, Wu Yusen's "The Taiping Wheel" is also not cost-effective.
The protagonist has basically been decided, but the heroine remains unchanged.
It's impossible for Lay's to come up with a big-budget production worth US$150 million. Lay's has just guaranteed the bottom line for "The Wheel" and the movie hasn't been released yet and it hasn't recovered the cost yet.
The big one is produced by Legendary Pictures, while Lay's and China Film Co., Ltd. are the small ones.
Wanda invests its own money in films involving famous directors and superstars like Zhang Yimou and Cheng Long. If it were a film like "Warring States" in the past, everyone knew that it would lose money, so Wanda would not waste money.
The main investment in the "Warring States" films came from a large cultural industry group affiliated with the Chang'an State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
For this eldest lady, 14 film and television companies were established in Beijing, Dongyang, and Xiangjiang, and several white gloves of unknown identity were promoted in front of the stage, including three with the surname Lu alone.
Wanda has cooperation with others, but the cooperation is based on mutual benefit. It is a small thing to pay 100 million, but it is impossible to pay for it every year.
So at that time, Chang'an Conquest issued a document to encourage the development of the film and television industry. Two-thirds of the investment in "Warring States" was made by a company owned by the local state-owned Wei.
Of course, investment is risky, and state-owned assets can be lost, and there is no need for talented people to bear risks.
For those movies that lost money, Wanda didn’t have to provide any money, just resources.
However, "Police Story 2013", "The Great Wall", "Bad Pacific 2" and "Kong: Skull Island" either have box-office guarantees like Cheng Long and Zhang Yimou to join them, or the previous films were hits, and Wanda invested its own money.
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Tang An didn't want to talk much about this topic, and Zhang Yimou would definitely be unhappy. Ten years ago, his film would not lack investment at all, and the investors would not even think of arranging the main characters to come in after paying for it.
But now, things have changed, and these great directors no longer have the extraordinary status they once had.
"Which company will Director Zhang choose to do the special effects for "The Great Wall"? My Digital Domain and Tiangong Yicai have both expanded. I can help if necessary."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Tang, for your kindness. Legendary Pictures has contacted Weta Digital and Industrial Light & Magic and it has been decided." Zhang Yimou smiled apologetically.
"The Great Wall" is a movie that is competing for Oscars, and the special effects should still be in line with Western aesthetics as much as possible. Furthermore, even from a technical point of view, Weta Digital and Industrial Light and Magic are superior to Digital Realm and Tiangong Yicai.
Tang An didn't care either, Tiangong Yicai had no shortage of business, the "Fengshen" series was a big project, and there were a lot of Hollywood blockbusters.
Originally, the special effects of "The Great Wall" were among the best in the country, but unfortunately the plot was an old-fashioned Hollywood story with a Chinese-style shell. The degree of completion was too low, and even the top special effects in the country were dragged down, and it was said to be a 50-cent special effect.
Among the three major directors, Chen Kaige also has a new film. He has finished shooting "The Taoist Comes Down the Mountain" and is currently preparing for "The Legend of the Demon Cat".
Although Tang An and he had an unpleasant quarrel at the Golden Rooster Awards and when "The Orphan of Zhao" was released, there is no tense situation when they meet now and they deal with it in a formulaic manner.
"Legend of the Demon Cat" is also a big production, but it doesn't need the help of Tiangong Yicai. It has investment from Japan and South Korea, uses Japanese and Korean actors, and special effects are also done by Japan and South Korea. Most of Chen Kaige's movies are like this.
The special effects market is such a strange phenomenon right now. Domestic film and television companies and directors who want to make big productions don’t believe in the capabilities of domestic special effects companies, so they spend a lot of money to find foreign special effects companies.
On the contrary, famous Hollywood blockbusters such as "Iron Man", "Jurassic World", "Captain America" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" all have the participation of domestic special effects companies.
Three former top directors, directors who can be called masters, have returned to the big screen after two years of silence. Each of them has two projects in hand, and they are unwilling to be shot to death by the new generation of directors.
On the beach.
Tang An and the others have nothing to say. After all, they became famous in 2004, just a few years later than them.
But let alone Wu Ershan, Xu Zheng and others, Wu Jing, Zhao Wei, Deng Chao, Guo Jinming, He Jiong, Han Han... these people are completely new directors, and they all come from across the field.
If these people can be successful, in the future big-name stars such as Fan Binbin, Zhang Ziyi, Huang Bo, and Chen Kun will also become directors. How could these three great directors be willing to let a group of laymen die on the beach?
Zhang Yimou and Chen Kai still make big productions, each with a bigger investment than the other, and they are still superstitious about big productions, but Feng Xiaogang is selling his emotions.