The Spring Festival in 2009 came very early, with the New Year celebrations in January, so the Lunar New Year period also ended early, and it has completely entered the off-season since February.
There aren't any festivals in March, and there aren't any decent movies released, just some low-cost digital movies, which are basically the kind that even people who watch movies often don't know about.
However, "Ashes of Time" has been re-released, and China Film and Television and Guangxian have jointly distributed this classic film nationwide.
But no matter how classic it is, after all, everyone has seen it, so it is impossible to sell as many box office tickets as you want.
8 million in three days, which is estimated to be only 20 to 30 million box office.
And "Slumdog Millionaire" just made a splash at the Oscars in February, winning two awards for Best Director and Best Picture. Because of the influence of the Oscars, it is still in theaters, and its North American box office has reached close to 100 million.
dollars.
It is also very popular in China, but the box office is mediocre, with only over 14 million in the first week, so it was not well-received.
For Chinese people, unless a Chinese-language film wins an Oscar, or if an imported film wins an Oscar, the names of Zhang Yimou and Ma Xiaogang are not as resounding.
In addition, the movie with the best box office in March was the Hollywood movie of the same name adapted from the classic comic "Dragon Ball".
It's a Hollywood remake. You don't have to think about the content. It's the story of a young man named Mi Lijian who saved the earth.
However, it still attracted quite a lot of attention and was listed by the media as one of the most watched movies of 2009.
The early box office was also quite high, with 13.5 million on the first day of release on Saturday, which many major productions cannot achieve.
However, the reputation was immediately ruined, and the box office on Sunday was only 7 million.
On a holiday, the second day after the release, the drop was almost 50%. This trend shocked everyone's eyes. Even the most criticized movies in the past have never been able to get out of this box office curve.
It was indeed so bad that on Saturday Guo Fan, Qi Yukun, and Wen Muye came to the studio to do homework on the computer, and they couldn't help but complain about this movie.
"18-year-old high school student Sun Wukong lacks self-confidence and is not popular in school. However, under the strict training of his grandfather Sun Wuhan since childhood, he has become a martial arts master at a young age.
After his grandfather Gohan was brutally murdered by the Demon King Piccolo, Goku followed his grandfather's will and defected to Kame Sennin, embarking on the road to collect all seven Dragon Balls in order to stop Piccolo's ambition to use the seven Dragon Balls to control the world.
With the guidance of Kame Sennin and the help of Bulma, Leping and other friends he met along the way, Wukong gradually grew into an invincible fighter.
During the adventure of searching for the Dragon Balls, he experienced countless hardships and obstacles, overcame physical and mental tests, and finally risked his life to save the world with his friends."
Guo Fan quickly summarized what he saw at the cinema last night, his tone became more and more intense, and he was about to curse.
"Isn't this a typical Milijian superhero story template? I use this template for all stories. I really have no brains at all and treat the audience as a fool."
Wen Muye, who has loved reading comics since he was a child, echoed, "To be honest, I can't accept the turtle fairy played by Fa Ge, and the star is also the producer of this movie. I don't understand how it could be made like this."
"Originally the director was Chow Sing-chi, but he resigned as director after he found out that the plot had been changed beyond recognition, and Fox hired the director of "The God of Death" to make the film."
Li Qian also loved reading comics when he was a child. People of this age have basically read everything like "Dragon Ball" and "Conan".
When I was a kid, I went to the bookstall every day and spent most of my pocket money on it. At the bookstall at that time, I could exchange two books for one. I could exchange two books I had read with my boss for one I had not read.
More and more money was spent, and eventually the books were returned to the bookstall owner. Now that I think about it, that owner was really a business genius.
"By the way, boss, please show me the script of your new movie."
After complaining about this childhood-ruining movie, Guo Fan and the others did not forget about business. The main purpose of today was to watch Li Qian's new movie.
"Take it, just don't take it out." There was nothing he couldn't read, so Li Qian handed over a literary script.
The three people immediately took it and started watching it. Li Qian's past few movies were very amazing in terms of creativity and plot. They had been looking forward to Li Qian's new movie for a long time.
However, after reading the script carefully, my face looked a little strange.
"Boss, your movie this time is different from before." Guo Fan couldn't help but say.
"What, is there something wrong with the script?"
Qi Yukun explained, "There is nothing wrong with the script. I feel that if it can be filmed well, it won't be much worse than "This Killer Is Not Too Cold", but this is not your style, boss."
"What style?"
"It's just that it feels like the amazing creativity is gone and it has become a simple drama. I thought you would continue to make science fiction films."
“There are so many creative ideas.”
Li Qian laughed and said, "Actually, I originally planned to make a science fiction film with a more science fiction flavor than "Moon", which can be regarded as a science fiction blockbuster. However, the production cost alone has to be at least 100 million yuan, which may not be enough. The box office in the domestic market
The upper limit is only over 300 million. After excluding the publicity costs and distribution fees, it is estimated that the domestic box office will not make much money, so it is better to leave it alone. With the current market growth rate, the market will be able to bear it in the next year or so."
Although it doesn't matter whether Li Qian makes money or not, he has to spend money to make a movie, and he has to invest in so many people's movies, so it's not possible without money.
When he heard that the investment in a science fiction blockbuster was at least 100 million, Guo Fan immediately became energetic and asked quickly, "Boss, what type of science fiction blockbuster are you talking about?"
"Why do you care so much? Just do your homework."
Without a word, Li Qian ignored him.
Watching Li Qian walk into the office and close the door, Guo Fan looked depressed.
"What does this mean? I stopped talking in the middle of the sentence. Isn't this meant to titillate people!"
...
March passed quickly, and on Wednesday, April 1st, "Nightclub" invested by Li Qian was also released, with a premiere ceremony held in Beijing.
The project was approved in September last year. At that time, we were still cooperating with Guangxian and handed it over to Guangxian for distribution.
As a publisher and investor, of course Wang Changtian also attended the premiere ceremony in person.
This was also the first time that Li Qian met Wang Changtian after more than three months.
"Director Li, long time no see."
After the cooperation ended and we met again, Wang Changtian still had an enthusiastic face, and there was nothing unusual about him.
Li Qian also smiled and said hello, "Hello, Mr. Wang, this issuance is troublesome to Mr. Wang again."
There is no enmity between the two parties, and Li Qian's help to Guangxian's film business can be said to be much greater than that of his boss. Without Li Qian, Guangxian Pictures would be a third-rate company in the industry.
Moreover, even if Zhang Weiping is in person, Wang Changtian can still look unconcerned, let alone with Li Qian.
After saying a few polite words, Wang Changtian's expression suddenly changed. He glanced at both sides with his peripheral vision and whispered, "Director Li, you cooperated with those theaters, but Zhang Weiping, Huang Zhongjun, and Yu Dong were very unhappy. Listen, Said that several of their companies are ready to join forces to deal with you."
Li Qian was a little surprised that they would join forces to deal with such a big thing. Is it wrong?
China Film Group has a stake in it and controls nearly half of the theater chain in the country with a market share. Why not engage in China Film Group?
Wanda is also preparing to build a film and television company, so Niubi will go after Lao Wang.
Besides, even if there was such a thing, Wang Changtian shouldn't be on Huang Zhongjun's side, so why did he tell the secret?
Is this also playing Infernal Affairs?
He felt a little strange, but Li Qian still smiled and said, "Thank you, Mr. Wang, for reminding me."
The premiere started, so there was no need to be polite anymore and everyone sat down.
Yang Qing, Xu Zheng, and Tong Liya, who had finished filming a TV series and returned to the capital to prepare for "Cohabitation in Time and Space", also appeared on stage with the creators as the heroines.
As a small-budget film, there are no unnecessary procedures for the premiere, and it is done according to the process.
Li Qian also went up to say a few words during the movie to express his best wishes for the movie.
More than half an hour later, the main actor came on stage and the movie started to show.
As a standard comedy, from the beginning when Xu Zheng takes a silly cousin bodyguard who treats the hood as a treasure and refuses to take it off to get back the lottery money owed to him by the supermarket proprietress, Li Qian can continue to I could hear laughter from the audience.
Although "Nightclub" still has a lot of flaws, it still achieves the most basic thing of making people laugh.
Maybe after it is released tomorrow, some people will say that the movie is tacky, has no depth, and is not good in any way. At least most ordinary audiences can watch it and laugh, and that is enough.
The movie has been promoted from the very beginning with Li Qian as the producer, which is more effective than any gimmick.
Li Qian doesn't mind helping to promote it, after all, he still invested it himself.
Of course, even if Li Qian invested in a low-quality film, he would never allow it to be promoted under his own banner.
The box office on the first day was completely worthy of the name Li Qian.
3.2 million!
For a movie with a production cost of only 2 million, the box office on the first day was as high as 3.2 million, which is definitely a good result.
Compared with last year, when many blockbusters avoided the release of "Red Cliff", the Qingming Festival is much more deserted. The biggest rival is "Empire of Money" released by Bernard.
This anti-corruption police film directed by Wang Jing and starring Tony Leung Jiahui and Huang Qiusheng, the investment exceeded 30 million, but the box office on the first day was only a pitiful 2.3 million.
In the first week, relying on Li Qian's name, the film itself's good reputation, no competitive schedule, and a comedy with a wide audience, "Nightclub" even achieved a high box office of 15.3 million in the first weekend. .
And "Empire of Money" jointly released by Bernard and China Film Company, the box office in the first week was the same as the first day, only 8 million.
There is no doubt that "Nightclub" became a dark horse in 2009. The work produced by Li Qian continues to be a great success.