During this year's Lunar New Year, "Assembly" has already booked the Lunar New Year box office champion and the annual Chinese film box office champion.
Moreover, among the cast of "Assembly", the most famous one is Deng Chao, a newcomer to the big screen. The total salary of all the actors is less than one million.
Compared with the star cast of "The Tou Ming Zhuan", it is simply not enough to watch.
This has also triggered a new round of thinking in the media and film industries.
Is a superstar a necessary element for big productions?
Starting from Heroes, in the six years from 2002 to 2007, among the blockbuster movies with an investment of 50 million yuan or a box office of more than 50 million yuan, the only movies with a box office of more than 50 million yuan were "The Great Sage", "Initial D", and "Heroes of Heaven and Earth"
, "The Promise" and "The Night Banquet" did not feature Hong Kong superstars.
"Initial D" also had Jay Chou, Little Heavenly King is always worthy of being the star, "Heroes of Heaven and Earth" also had Jiang Wen, "The Banquet" had Ge You, and "The Promise" was handled by Cheng Kai himself.
In other words, in the past six years, among the movies with an investment of more than 50 million, only "The Promise" did not star a superstar.
Among the movies with a box office of over RMB 50 million, there is also only one, "The Great Sage", which does not feature a superstar, but the lead actor is also a Hong Kong star.
Finding superstars and first-tier stars may not necessarily guarantee a hit, but if you don't find them, you will definitely not be able to sell at the box office. This has almost become the default thing in the film industry.
Even if domestic first-line Mesozoic actors are paid millions at most, which is cheap and practical, they can't get starring roles in blockbusters, or even leading male roles in medium-cost movies worth RMB 40 to 50 million.
But "Assembly" broke this special case, Zhang Hanyu had never even played a leading role before.
If the main reason for the success of "Assembly" is Ma Xiaogang, then the huge sales of "Frequency of Life and Death" can explain the problem.
Two Mainland Mesozoic actors, plus Li Qian, a newcomer to the big screen, cost around 10 million, and earned more than 40 million in box office within nine days of release.
This also shows in disguise that Hong Kong stars are not indispensable. As long as the film is of good quality and liked by the audience, it can still be a big hit.
In addition, there is a typical negative example in the same period, the three superstars of "The Movie", with an investment cost of 250 million, it is not certain whether the final box office can exceed 200 million.
Breaking the rules has extraordinary significance for major film companies.
After all, the salary of a superstar is too expensive. It can easily cost tens of millions of dollars. Even if Xie Tingfeng alone can pay five or six Chen Kun.
Whether a large number of Mainland Mesozoic people can be used to play the leading roles in movies has become the focus of internal discussions among major companies.
The media is also very lively. In addition, they have once again used the sky-high salary in "The Name of the Name" to flog the corpse.
A salary of 100 million is so scary. In 2007, there were only three Chinese-language films with a box office of over 100 million.
Seeing the news about sky-high film remuneration reported again, Tong Liya asked curiously, "Li Qian, do you think Jet Li really got a 100 million film remuneration?"
"Even if it's less than 100 million, it's almost there. Jet Li is worth that money."
"That's 100 million." Tong Liya secretly clicked her tongue.
"The investors are not stupid. Without Jet Li, this film would not have received an investment of 250 million yuan."
Overstuffed to death and hungry to death, this is the current situation of the film industry.
Li Lianjie received US$10 million when filming "Hero", which is almost 80 million yuan.
In 2006, "Fearless" sold another US$70 million globally. The overseas box office alone reached US$57 million, and the DVD revenue in North America also reached US$40 million. As the largest investor in the movie, this movie brought Li Lianjie great success. Came in $30 million in revenue.
Moreover, in 2007, a small-budget movie "Baywatch" with a budget of US$25 million grossed US$40 million at the global box office, and its North American DVD revenue was as high as more than US$70 million.
The salary of 100 million yuan in mainland China is not an exaggeration at all, it can even be said to be a friendly price.
This earning power of one person is comparable to that of a company.
If you get 100 million, it would be better if it sells well at the box office, otherwise it would be like now and being criticized by the media.
Moreover, the media also fabricated some news about Chen Kexin criticizing Jet Li's high salary, and that investors were dissatisfied with Jet Li's sky-high salary. At the beginning, they eagerly approached Jet Li on their own initiative.
I don’t know when Mainland Mesozoic actors will make their mark. Some time ago, the magical blockbuster "Painted Skin" led by Ningxia Film Studio still featured three Mesozoic first-line actors, Donnie Yen, Chen Kun, Zhou Xun and Zhao Wei, as supporting actors for Donnie Yen. , the combined salary of the three people is only 5 million, which is probably not as good as Zhen Zi’s salary alone.
However, "Assembly" and "Frequency of Life and Death" are also a good start. Domestic film and television companies will definitely consider more mainland actors.
...
With "Frequency of Life and Death" reaching the top of the Japanese charts, it has also become the number one most popular movie at the moment, not much worse than "Assembly".
The Internet is still very popular, and in addition to the most attractive father-son family relationship, the suspense and science fiction elements of the movie are equally exciting. You can see posts discussing the plot in various forums, websites, and forums.
And as the movie continues to sell well, the audience has more and more questions. At least every time Li Qian performs on the road, there is not enough time to answer the audience's questions.
Continue the road show for another day and continue to answer some unhelpful questions from the audience.
"Hello Director Li, I would like to ask about the murderer who lost his hand at the end of the movie. Even if he managed to escape 20 years ago, but the police already had the evidence, why was he never caught and had to wait until 20 years later to seek revenge? And the protagonist’s family has not moved, so they are not afraid at all?”
Li Qian has become numb to these questions that arise from not taking the movie seriously and can answer them calmly.
"First of all, for us moviegoers, these two time and space should be synchronized. The murderer 20 years later did not go there for revenge. At that time, it was because his son had found out about him and was already very suspicious of him. .”
"As for why I didn't move, why I wasn't arrested."
Li Qian smiled and said, "Because I am a screenwriter, I want to write about not moving and not being arrested, so I will write like this."
This answer made the audience couldn't help laughing.
"Director Li, when the killer was exposed 20 years ago, the future should have changed. Why has nothing changed 20 years later?"
"The killer was exposed but not caught, so he may have killed all six remaining victims."
"But the killer did not commit the crime after escaping from the river 20 years ago. Instead, he went to the protagonist's house to take revenge."
"I have said that from our perspective, the two time periods of this movie proceed simultaneously. In the end, the murderer 20 years later goes to kill people and silence them first, and the murderer 20 years ago follows closely to seek revenge."
"To take a step back, even if the murderer 20 years ago struck first, when he was doing it, the result could be successful or unsuccessful. When the result did not come out, the future would still be the same. The parents 20 years later
It will still not exist, because after the first change, none of them survived, and my father’s smoking cessation also went through a process.”
"Hello Director Li, I am a science fiction fan. I think the movie "Frequency of Life and Death" is very good, but I have a question. We all saw that the old father was alive at the end, so if the father had been alive, the son would not be sad.
He was distressed by his father's death and went to use the radio to talk to his father. But if he didn't use the radio to talk to his father, his father would have died instead of saving him in the end. This is unreasonable."
Li Qian was speechless, and even threw out his grandfather's refutation. It was just a fairy tale told using the gimmick of time and space, so why be serious?
The so-called grandfather argument is that if you go back in time and kill your grandparents before your father was born, this action will create a contradictory situation:
You go back in time and kill your young grandfather. If your grandfather dies, you will have no father, and if you don’t have a father, you will not have you. So who killed your grandfather?
Or think of it as: Your existence means that your grandfather did not die because of you, so why did you kill your grandfather?
There are so many spectators, and there are too many serious people.
Science fiction has been entangled for so many years, and some people even proposed the banana peel theory on this basis.
That is, when you were about to kill your grandfather, you accidentally stepped on a banana peel and was hospitalized. If you wanted to take action later, you would also face the interference of this seemingly accidental event and never be able to kill your grandfather.
Looking at the audience staring at him expectantly, Li Qian didn't want to discuss this kind of problem with a science fiction fan, which was similar to which came first, the chicken or the egg.
He nodded, "Yes. It's indeed unreasonable."
Science fiction fans were surprised when they heard this.
Other viewers also looked at Li Qian expectantly, wanting to hear what he had to say.
"Actually, it is unreasonable to talk to someone from 20 years ago. It is also unreasonable to try to find reason among the unreasonable."
Li Qian smiled and said, "If this kind of space-time film can solve all the arguments, then I won't be standing here. I will have to enter the Chinese Academy of Sciences."
The science fiction fan looked disappointed, originally expecting to hear some different explanation from Li Qian.
...
The audience for science fiction films is always one of the most difficult to serve, because most science fiction films themselves are nonsense, and it just depends on who can make it more round and round.
"Frequency of Life and Death" can still be said to be self-defeating. If we must be honest, no movie can find logical flaws.
"It's so tiring to make a science fiction movie."
After leaving the cinema, Li Qian couldn't help but sigh.
Zhang Hanyu said with a smile, "Director Li is the first domestic director to make a science fiction film in the new century."
“It’s barely on par with science fiction.”
"That is also a science fiction film. This genre is a desert in China and no one else can make it."
Deng Chao also said, "Director Li's next film will be a science fiction film. If so, it will create a new genre for the domestic film market."
"It's hard to say. I'm so busy right now. How can I have the energy to think about my next movie?" Li Qian smiled and said nothing.
Li Qian's high productivity is obvious to all. It took less than half a year from preparation to release of this movie. Based on this frequency, it is estimated that the next movie will be prepared soon.
The first movie was a hit, who wouldn't want to continue starring in Li Qian's next movie?
Even if Deng Chao plays Zhang Hanyu's son again, he... can barely consider it.
The worst thing is sacrificing for art, it's just a matter of calling daddy a few times during filming.
"Okay, don't think so much, take the time to take a rest and catch up on the next show, time waits for no one."
...
"Frequency of Life and Death" continues to be a hit, especially when it topped the box office on the first day, its popularity reached its peak.
The following Tuesday, half-price day, the box office increased slightly, with 3.7 million in a single day, and the total box office in the ten days of release was as high as 47.8 million.
In addition, including the 2.8 million on-demand and zero-point screenings, the total box office of "Frequency of Life and Death" has exceeded the 50 million mark, reaching 50.6 million.
After ten days of release, the total box office exceeded 50 million!
Half of the goal of 100 million has been reached. At this time, everyone remembered that according to this situation, "Frequency of Life and Death" might really have a box office of over 100 million!