No. 32 Ping'anli West Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, Mei Lanfang Grand Theater, where the premiere ceremony of the disaster romance blockbuster "The Wheel: A Life in Troubled Times" with an investment of 400 million yuan was held.
As the second high-profile blockbuster released during the Lunar New Year, "The Wheel", which brings together popular stars from China, Japan and South Korea, has naturally become a hot spot in the film market.
"Detective Chinatown 2" has completely heated up the market, with 156 million on the first day, 631 million in the first week, and 153 million in the two working days of the second week. The box office in the seven days after its release was as high as 784 million, even more popular than the National Day movie.
"Heart Blossoms on the Road" was even higher during the same period.
However, even if "Detective Chinatown 2" became a hit, "Peace Wheel" has maintained a relatively high level of attention.
After all, Wu Yusen's fame lies here. Although the "Red Cliff" back then had a mediocre reputation, it did well at the box office.
Moreover, the combination of Zhang Ziyi, Wang Xiaoming, Jin Chengwu, Song Huiqiao, Qin Hairu, and Tong Dawei is not bad at all.
Since "Red Cliff", Wu Yusen has not had a movie released for five years. For a director, no movie is released, just like an actor not appearing on the big screen or TV, it is easy to be forgotten by the audience.
After several years of silence, Wu Yusen reappeared in the public eye this time, and he was full of confidence.
Especially looking at the packed theater hall, dense crowds of people, nearly a hundred reporters, and senior executives of major companies in the industry all present, made Wu Yusen even more confident.
Can an ordinary director and an ordinary movie have such a grand premiere?
At the premiere ceremony, Wu Yusen introduced his film with high spirits.
""The Wheel" is an epic disaster blockbuster, but it is also an unforgettable romantic love story, but it is more than that. By portraying the emotions of the characters, the film reflects the rise, fall, and changes of history...
There was a lot of chatter, and each actor also expressed his thoughts and boasted about himself.
Kim Seong-wu: My eyes turned red when I read the script, and I cried while reading it.
Wang Xiaoming: After filming the explosion scene, there was sand everywhere when I took a shower
Generally speaking, the plot is so touching, the special effects are awesome, and the filming is so hard.
Next comes the media link. For a blockbuster movie, in a highly competitive schedule, the movie box office is naturally indispensable.
"Hello Director Wu, "The Wheel" is the first film you directed after "Red Cliff". Is it because of the failure of "Red Cliff" that you haven't made a new film? Is it because you are worried about box office failure?
"
a reporter asked bluntly.
Someone was looking for trouble. Wu Yusen felt a little unhappy, but he still smiled and said, ""The Wheel" is a standard blockbuster that requires a lot of time to prepare. I am not only responsible for the investors' money, but also for the audience. I can't
Just make a movie in a few months or a year, and that's it. Every step of the way, the movie strives to be perfect."
""Detective Chinatown 2" has a box office of nearly 800 million in seven days. How much box office does Director Wu think "The Wheel" can get under the impact of "Detective Chinatown 2"?"
"The investment in "Tai Ping Wheel" exceeded 400 million. I spent nearly a year refining the script, striving for perfection in the scenery, costumes, and props. Several actors also gave their most wonderful performances. I think such a
"The Taiping" will satisfy the audience. Our expectations are 1.5 billion. I think the efforts of our entire crew over the past two to three years are worth the 1.5 billion box office."
1.5 billion!
Wu Yusen's opening was a number that is almost impossible to achieve in ordinary movies, and it also made the reporters at the scene shine.
For a movie, the movie itself and the box office are definitely the most important things to pay attention to. Any big director will inevitably attract a lot of scolding and criticism as long as the box office fails.
"Hello Director Wu, is the box office of one movie or the two movies combined? 1.5 billion?"
"Of course it's the box office of a movie!" Wu Yusen said with confidence, ""The Wheel" was well received at the Cannes Film Festival and has sold the copyrights to many countries one after another."
His minimum goal is one billion, and his ultimate goal is 1.5 billion, and he will always win the Lunar New Year box office championship!
As for the two billion, breaking Tang An's record, Wu Yusen is no longer so arrogant after the failure of "Red Cliff", thinking that he can easily win super high box office with his reputation as a major Hollywood director.
To put it bluntly, I have a secret in my mind. After all, there are four blockbusters released during the Lunar New Year period in a month, which will definitely make a profit at the box office.
But Tang An is not here, and now the biggest rival is Tang An's "Detective Chinatown 2".
It's okay if he can't beat Tang An, but facing Tang An's movies, Wu Yusen is confident that he will win.
Even if the previous film exceeded 1 billion, and now it has exceeded 700 million in seven days, Wu Yusen is still full of confidence in his film that is more exciting and deeper than "Titanic".
...
Wu Yusen on the stage answered the reporters' questions one after another with great energy, but several investors and issuers in the audience were not as confident as Wu Yusen.
Wu Yusen is a contracted director of Pony Ma, and "The Wheel" is also a major investment of Pony Ma. As far as Pony Ma's current situation is concerned, it simply cannot afford failure.
After Li Ming passed away, his wife Jin Yan managed the shaky company alone. Although she also hoped that the movie would be a hit, if it really sold to 1.5 billion box office like Wu Yusen said, it would undoubtedly be life-saving for Xiao Ma.
Panacea.
However, the siege of three blockbusters, especially "Detective Chinatown 2", coupled with the emergence of big directors one after another in recent years, the rapid rise of new directors, has made the appeal of those famous directors far less than before.
Jin Yan doesn't have much confidence.
However, fortunately, I have sold the guarantee, so at least I will not lose money.
Zhang Zhao won this series with a guarantee of 800 million. The more he exceeds, the greater the subsequent share will be, but he does not expect to get 1.5 billion for the first part.
When I first guaranteed the bottom line, I thought it would be good if a movie could earn more than 500 million yuan. However, after a year or two, Zhao Wei and Deng Chao's movies sold 700 million yuan, Wu Jing's movies sold 800 million yuan, and Han Han's movies were sold.
After reaching 600 million, his goal gradually increased and was set at the threshold of 1 billion.
After all, he is also a famous director. He has made so many classic movies, and his fame is there.
As for the 1.5 billion... Zhang Zhao never thought that if the first part had a box office of 1 billion and had a good reputation, then the second part could get 1.5 billion.
Wang Zhongjun and Kang Pei also had the same idea. Even if they broke one billion, it would be a success. With three opponents at the same level, it would be too difficult no matter how high they were.
Otherwise, Kang Pei wouldn't have been researching it for more than half a month just because of a schedule. If he really had such confidence, there would be no need to go to such trouble, and he would be afraid of bumping into other movies.
Wu Yusen must have never imagined that his teammates had no confidence in him.
If I knew what they were thinking, I would probably secretly curse them as "pig teammates".