PS: Thank you for the reward from the book friend "Little Home Teacher"!!

To be honest, when Lin Zhimo saw such a report on "Movie of the Week", he wondered if he had given them advertising money and asked them to write it like this, after all, this was simply a naked advertisement for "Don't Talk to Strangers", although he didn't say it explicitly, but the meaning of the words was obviously to lure the public to watch.

But no matter what, since "Movie of the Week" magazine published this report, then Lin Zhimo must admit it.

After the premiere in Yanjing, Lin Zhimo and his entourage attended two premieres in Xia Hai and Yuedong, and a week later, "Don't Talk to Strangers" officially began to be screened in major theaters across the country!

Although it is a literary film, firstly, because it is not the best period for film screening, and secondly, because of the good relationship between Lin Zhimo Company and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, it relied on the strong distribution ability of China Film Group to arrange a 30% release rate.

This is a big number, even last year's "Big Names" was only 40% at its highest, and "Don't Talk to Strangers" actually won such a huge release rate with a small-budget literary film, which can be said to be amazing.

Of course, this is inseparable from Lin Zhimo's current relationship with the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, in fact, even so, Lin Zhimo is still not very satisfied.

Now the box office share of a domestic film is like this, taking the box office of 100 yuan as an example: the special fund of the National Film Development Special Fund Management Committee occupies 5%; Sales tax accounts for 3.3%, and the above two are fixed.

In other words, the box office of a movie, after excluding these two parts, the remaining 91.7 is the revenue. Among them, theaters (theaters) account for about 50%, and the remaining 41.7% are producers and distributors, and distributors account for about 10%.

In other words, 30% of the final box office of a movie is earned by the producer, and the rest cannot be paid by itself. If a film invests 100 million, then his final box office will only recover its cost if it exceeds 300 million yuan.

And Lin Zhimo is now a rookie director because of the relationship with the Zeng family, but the share he gets is the share of first-line directors like Zhang Yimou and Feng Xiaogang.

And the reason why he is not dissatisfied is not because the division is too small, after all, the whole society is in this state, and Lin Zhimo has nothing to complain about; He was dissatisfied that he had not thought of taking the distribution rights into his own hands.

A film distribution license is a certification document issued by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, and only those who have this document can distribute a film. And with Lin Zhimo's relationship, he can now get this certificate. But after all, because of the first time. Lin Zhimo also had no experience, so he forgot about it, and now he gave up 10% of the share to others in vain.

At the same time, Lin Zhimo also began to wonder whether he should establish his own cinema chain, after all, the division between cinema chains and theaters can occupy a large part of the box office. And now I still have a lot of money on hand.

"Hmm. And the real estate market is very hot right now. Even if the cinema does not make money in the future, the land under the cinema should be able to recoup its cost. Lin Zhimo thought with his chin on his hands.

After thinking about it for a while, Lin Zhimo felt that it was a little early to think about this issue now, and it was better to wait for today's box office to come out on the first day.

15 March 2002. On Friday, at eight o'clock in the evening, "Don't Talk to Strangers" officially landed in theaters nationwide.

Lin Zhimo didn't leave the company for a day, in order to wait for the latest box office information. Of course, he could get the first call wherever he was, but he still felt that it was best to get the news in his own company.

The waiting time is undoubtedly very tight, although it is a literary film and does not need to pay special attention to the box office, compared with the box office, next month's college student film festival may be more worthy of Lin Zhimo's attention, but Lin Zhimo still feels that the box office of this film cannot be too bad.

A good film director will definitely not make only one type of film for the rest of his life, but will shoot movies according to his own inspiration, maybe he wants to make a movie that reflects love this year, and he wants to make a movie about gangsters next year, every good director must be able to adapt to various types of films.

Lin Zhimo never thought that he couldn't shoot literary films at a young age, and similarly, he wouldn't think that since he had made literary films, he wouldn't shoot commercial films anymore.

Whether it is a literary film or a commercial film, it is a way for the director to present the story in his mind to everyone, and whether this story is good or not, what is the most intuitive way to respond?

Box office!

Lin Zhimo feels that whether it is a literary film or a commercial film, as long as you are not shooting a documentary, then as long as you tell the story well, you will get a satisfactory box office data, this "satisfaction" does not mean that the larger the amount, the better, after all, literary films are inherently disadvantaged and cannot be compared with commercial films. This "satisfactory number" refers to a number that fits the director's own mind.

Lin Zhimo believes that at any time, a good story will always move many people to go to the theater to watch it.

Lin Zhimo feels that the story he tells is not bad, maybe the overall style of the film is a little depressing, but it is definitely not the kind of dead silence that makes people breathless, but a kind of spiritual pain, which makes people feel depressed and at the same time makes people reflect, and will guide people to goodness.

"How's it going, director, are you nervous right now?" Gong Li sat in Lin Zhimo's office and asked while peeling apples with a fruit knife.

"How can I not be nervous, I have some auditory hallucinations now, and the sound of the phone ringing always comes to my ears." Lin Zhimo looked at the phone on his desktop and smiled bitterly.

"Oh? yes, I thought you didn't even care about the Berlinale awards, and now you don't care about the box office. Gong Li took a bite of the apple and said.

"These are two different things, that award is too affected by human factors, and a judge can decide the fate of a film; But now there is no one to control the box office. Lin Zhimo breathed a sigh of relief. continued: "The quality of the film is completely reflected in the box office of the movie. ”

After speaking, Lin Zhimo glanced at Gong Li, who was eating apples, and secretly thought to himself: "Moreover, if the box office of this film is not good, how can I be worthy of your trust in me, Sister Li?" ”

However, Lin Zhimo just thought about this sentence in his heart and didn't say it.

"Then what do you think is the final box office of this movie to be considered satisfied?" Gong Li asked curiously.

"In my mind...... Lin Zhimo narrowed his eyes slightly, "I think it should reach more than 10 million." ”

"Ten million?" Gong Li was taken aback, and she didn't have time to swallow the apple in her mouth, "Your heart is too big!" Last year, Director Feng's "Big Names" was only less than 40 million. ”

Lin Zhimo smiled: "Sister Li, if I say that this is already my conservative estimate, how would you react?" ”

"Crazy. Then you must be crazy! Gong Li said without hesitation. Then he looked at Lin Zhimeng's innocent eyes and asked, "You don't really think that this film has the potential to become a dark horse, do you?" ”

"Please! Sister Li, do you have a little confidence in me and yourself, why are the two of us also the best actors and actresses of the Berlin Film Festival. The two major international actors, actresses, are in the same movie! If the box office is too small, is it worthy of the two Silver Bear Awards? Lin Zhimo pretended to complain unhappily.

"Yes, yes, yes. I was wrong. Gong Li smiled and finished eating the apple in her hand. Then he said: "Okay, then I estimate that the final box office of this film can exceed 20 million!" ”

"That's right, no matter how high the box office data of the two of us is, it is not a dark horse!" Lin Zhimo said with a smile.

Gong Li heard the words and was about to speak, when she heard the phone on Lin Zhimo's desk ringing.

Lin Zhimo and Gong Li glanced at each other. They all saw a hint of nervousness in each other's eyes, and Lin Zhimo took a deep breath before reaching out and grabbing the phone in his hand, and said with a slight tremor in his tone: "Hey, hello!" ”

"Mr. Lin! The box office is out! The employee on the phone exclaimed in surprise.

Lin Zhimo heard the other party's tone, and the string that had been tightening in his heart was loosened, and his body was no longer stiff, and he asked in a relaxed tone: "Oh, that...... What was the first-day box office? ”

"1.5 million! 1.5 million! Mr. Lin, our box office on the first day was 1.5 million yuan! Listening to the other party's tone, it was as if he had won the jackpot of 1.5 million himself.

"1.5 million ......" Lin Zhimo couldn't help but feel slightly dizzy when he heard this number at first glance.

1.5 million may not be a big number, but it depends on the time. In Chinese mainland in 2002, there was not a single domestic film with a box office of more than 100 million, and even films with a box office of more than 50 million were as rare as a rarity.

To give the simplest example, Feng Xiaogang's "Big Names" released in December last year only looked like a first-day box office of less than 2 million, and now Lin Zhimo's literary film can reach a first-day box office of 1.5 million, which can be said to be very surprising.

Hanging up the phone, Gong Li saw Lin Zhimo's somewhat absent-minded appearance and couldn't help asking, "How is the box office?" It won't be ......"

Speaking of this, Gong Li's tone was stunned, for fear of stimulating Lin Zhimo, he didn't dare to say that the box office was not good.

Lin Zhimo also came to his senses at this time, his eyes burst out with joy, and he said with a smile: "Sister Li, do you know what our first-day box office is?" After speaking, without waiting for Gong Li to answer, he couldn't wait to say the answer: "1.5 million!" Our first-day box office actually reached 1.5 million! Hahaha! ”

"1.5 million?" Gong Li also covered her mouth and said in disbelief.

After filming so many movies and winning so many awards, the first-day box office of "Don't Talk to Strangers" is the biggest first-day box office she knows, so she can't help but be shocked by this number!

"So...... Did we succeed? Gong Li muttered in disbelief.

"That's right! Sister Li, we succeeded! ”

With this first-day box office result, the subsequent box office is almost predictable, and this film is about to rise! Don't say that it reaches the 10 million that Lin Zhimo said, even the 20 million that Gong Li said is not impossible to reach.

Lin Zhimo came to Gong Li and sat down, stretched out his hand and hugged Gong Li's shoulders and said, "Sister Li, I am completely relieved now, I have lived up to your expectations and trust!" ”

Lin Zhimo knew that Gong Li's insistence on participating in the first movie directed by herself, a rookie, actually took on a lot of doubts. Whether it is her agent or the public opinion of the outside world, there are many discussions about her, but Gong Li has never said this to Lin Zhimo, but she silently bears these pressures by herself.

When she won the Silver Bear Award, Gong Li said that she was most grateful to Lin Zhimo for this play, and similarly, Lin Zhimo was most grateful to Gong Li, so she specially changed the script for her, so that her weight in the film increased again and again.

Now that Gong Li has won the Silver Bear Award, the box office of the film is also expected to not be too bad, it can be said that it is only now that Lin Zhimo feels that he has lived up to Gong Li's trust, and he can say this to Gong Li with confidence. (To be continued......)