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Although it is not a comedy movie, and it is not even suitable for watching during the Spring Festival, but due to Xu Kai's previous reputation, and "Farewell My Concubine" has won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, the Palme d'Or, the highest honor at the Cannes International Film Festival, and other awards and nominations.

- The box office of "Farewell My Concubine" is still more than 200 million on the first day, and the box office in the first week is nearly 1 billion.

Moreover, the word-of-mouth of "Farewell My Concubine" is overwhelming, and everyone has to admit that "Farewell My Concubine" is an excellent movie and lives up to its name.

But—

After the initial enthusiasm for supporting the best films in China, the box office of "Farewell My Concubine" also began to go down, and it went down like a cliff.

To paraphrase a viewer's words, I know that "Farewell My Concubine" is a good movie, even the best movie in China, but I want to watch Yu Qingyun's funny comedies in the past, and I want to laugh heartlessly when watching the movie, instead of crying while watching the movie or learning something from it after watching the movie, the movie is just a leisure pastime for me, I don't want to shed tears for it, and if I really want to study, it's not good to go to read a book or check the information, if I really can't do it, I will sign up for a cram school, Why go to the cinema?

In terms of facts, this audience's statement actually represents the voice of many moviegoers, after all, many people watch movies just to have a good laugh, not to find abuse and understanding or anything, especially in this Chinese New Year.

This can also explain why the box office of "Farewell My Concubine" is high and low.

is still what Xu Kai often says, artistic movies have a high threshold and high reputation, but the public doesn't buy it, and entertaining movies have a low threshold, and low reputation but the public buys it.

Therefore, if you want to make money, don't talk about art, only by sinking to please the public will you make money.

"Farewell My Concubine", which has won numerous awards, is definitely a good movie, there is no doubt about it.

But if you want to make "Farewell My Concubine" more profitable than the highly entertaining movies that Xu Kai made in the past, it is a bit unrealistic.

To put it simply, while everyone says that "Farewell My Concubine" is good, there are fewer and fewer people who are willing to spend money on "Farewell My Concubine", which is actually a very normal market phenomenon, and there is nothing strange about it.

Moreover, Xu Kai had expected this.

The good thing is that -

"Farewell My Concubine" does have a lot of halo and does blind people's eyes, and it has some commerciality.

Therefore, "Farewell My Concubine" still got more than 1.5 billion movie box office for Xu Kai in the end.

In addition, the overseas box office of "Farewell My Concubine" is good, and it has won a high box office of nearly 100 million beautiful gold in North America alone.

Therefore, "Farewell My Concubine" still earns more than other people's movies, and it is not an insult to Xu Kai's reputation as the first commercial director.

The key is that although the box office of "Farewell My Concubine" is unsatisfactory, another "Rush Hour", which also bears the title of Xu Kai, helped Xu Kai "get the scene back".

At the same time that "Rush Hour" was released in North America, it was also released during the Spring Festival in China.

As a result, "Rush Hour" and "Iron Man" not only stirred up the North American box office market in the North of the United States, but also in China, it was also a latecomer who overtook "Farewell My Concubine" to become the final winner of the Spring Festival.

- Finally, "Rush Hour" temporarily ended the curtain with a total box office of 411 million beautiful gold in North America and a total box office of 2.1 billion Chinese dollars in China.

Yes.

This is only temporary, because "Rush Hour" will be released in other countries and regions.

By the way, "Iron Man" also achieved a final box office of 319 million beautiful gold in North America, and it has already begun to be released in other countries and regions around the world.

It is expected that "Iron Man" will probably land in the summer file in China - this is Xu Kai's idea, mainly to avoid "Iron Man" from hitting "Rush Hour" again, and then there will be internal friction.

According to conservative estimates, the total global box office of "Iron Man" should exceed 500 million beautiful gold.

Compared with the production cost of more than 100 million beautiful gold in "Iron Man", "Iron Man" is undoubtedly a big profit.

- Don't forget, this kind of sci-fi superhero, as long as it becomes popular, the surrounding or something will definitely sell very well, so there is also a large part of the income there.

In general, "Farewell My Concubine", "Rush Hour" and "Iron Man" have made Xu Kai make a lot of money, relying on these three movies, although Xu Kai cannot be allowed to repay the 10 billion loan he owes to Minxin Bank, but there is no problem at all to ensure that his capital chain is sufficient.

Of course, not all of Xu Kai's films are satisfactory.

Xu Kai's filming of "The Lover's First Kiss" and "The Grandmaster 4", which invested and starred in it, are relatively unsatisfactory.

Let's talk about "Grandmaster 4" first.

Yuan Xiaoliang and Xu Wenguang originally planned to use "Grandmaster 4" to conquer Hollywood and conquer the world.

But the beautiful Chinese people don't buy "The Grandmaster 4" - originally, the beautiful Chinese people can't get the point of a martial arts movie like Huaguo in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, Yuan Xiaoliang and Xu Wenguang combined the raretest and invaded indigenous class in the beautiful country, and the beautiful Chinese people are even more reluctant to watch "The Grandmaster 4".

Overall, "Grandmaster 4" has received nearly 15 million beautiful gold at the box office in some theaters in Chinatown.

This is also mainly due to Xu Kai's fame and the foundation laid overseas by the first three "The Grandmaster".

What's even more embarrassing is that the Hollywood western cowboy flavor drama that Yuan Xiaoliang and Xu Wenguang joined is also incomprehensible and disliked by Chinese people.

In the words of a domestic audience's film review: In addition to Yu Qingyun's fight, which is as wonderful as ever, the film failed to leave a deep impression in other aspects.

Another fan of "The Grandmaster" is quite "fair" to say: The flavor of Hollywood western cowboy movies has made the life of Chinese people in the West have a superficial liveliness. The film not only has wonderful and fierce fight scenes, warm love stories, and laughing baggage, it is not simply to promote the patriotism of "kung fu fighting foreign boxing", but also brings the protagonist to the confusion caused by the conflict between the advanced nature of foreign culture and traditional culture. The whole film is fast-paced, there are many scenes, and all the elements are complete as a western cowboy film, but the details are lacking, there is no opportunity for deep description, and there can be no more aftertaste after watching it. All the actors are the team members of the new Grandmaster series, and they are familiar with each other.

Under such an evaluation, "The Grandmaster" only achieved a box office of more than 400 million in China.

And this is still thanks to Xu Kai's strong box office appeal and the strong popularity accumulated in the first three "The Grandmaster".

In short, although "Grandmaster 4" also made Xu Kai and others make some money, the reputation of the "Grandmaster" series is over, and "The Grandmaster: The Lion of the Western Regions" can be regarded as the last story between Huang Feihong and Aunt Thirteen.

This was actually decided by Xu Kai.

After the failure of this Western Expedition, Yuan Xiaoliang came to Xu Kai again, wanting to make another "Grandmaster 5".

Yuan Xiaoliang said: "This time, we won't go to Hollywood, so we will honestly make money in China." ”

But Xu Kai still refused.

Xu Kai said to Yuan Xiaoliang: "Our failure this time is not only because we added Hollywood western elements, but also because the "Grandmaster" series has made the audience a little tired of watching, so "The Grandmaster" is here, and if we continue to shoot, we will exchange our character for money." ”

It can be seen that Yuan Xiaoliang is not willing to end the "Grandmaster" series that is so profitable.

But Xu Kai still firmly finished the "Grandmaster" series, at least for him.

Let's talk about "Lover's First Kiss".

Claude Bino's filming of "Lover's First Kiss" originally wanted to make an art film, of course, he also took into account some commercial elements, and he was also a little ambitious for the box office.

Anyway, Claude Binodo actually wants a lot.

But as a result, "Lover's First Kiss" only won the Oscar for Best Cinematography, and it was only a nomination.

Of course, as an art film that has also worked hard, "The First Kiss of a Lover" is still touted by some people in Claude Binodo's home camp of Romance.

- At the César Awards in Romantic Country, "Lover's First Kiss" was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Editing, Best Product Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Actress.

And "Lover's First Kiss" really won only one Best Music at the César Awards in the Romantic Country - this is the music that Xu Kai gave it.

Looking at it this way, "The First Kiss of a Lover" is obviously not very successful artistically.

Let's talk about the box office.

Claude Binodo filmed "Lover's First Kiss" in Hollywood, using Xu Kai as the leading actor and Sophie March as the heroine, thinking that it would harvest the box office in North America, China, and Europe at the same time.

But in the end, people in North America did not recognize "The Lover's First Kiss", so it was in vain that Claude Binodo used a large number of Hollywood actors to shoot "The Lover's First Kiss" in Hollywood, and "The Lover's First Kiss" only got more than 8 million beautiful gold at the box office in North America.

In the end, Europe is the base camp of Claude Binodo, Sophie March, also known as the French rose, and in the early years, he also accumulated a lot of popularity in Europe by shooting advertisements or something.

This made "The First Kiss of a Lover" get more than 40 million euros at the box office in Europe.

What really surprised Claude Binodo was that "Lover's First Kiss" won a high box office of more than 300 million Chinese dollars in China with Xu Kai's strong box office appeal.

- Although "Lover's First Kiss" has an average reputation in China, Xu Kai is too appealing at the box office in China, plus Sophie March is really beautiful, and "Lover's First Kiss" was released to catch up with Valentine's Day, and "Lover's First Kiss" earned more than 300 million Chinese dollars at the box office.

As an art film, "Lover's First Kiss" can get such a high box office, which makes Claude Binodo and the film company he invested in a lot of money, Claude Binodo and others are already very excited, Claude Binodo even wants to find Xu Kai to cooperate with "Lover's First Kiss 2" again, or let Xu Kai and Sophie March partner together.

Xu Kai didn't want to take "Lover's First Kiss 2", but Xu Kai really couldn't stand Sophie March, a little goblin, grinding him on the bed, so he promised Claude Binodo to wait for his script to come out and read it before deciding.

……

Because "Iron Man" made Marvel a lot of money, so much so that before "Iron Man" was drawn around the world, Marvel couldn't wait to find Xu Kai to co-produce "Iron Man 2".

This also involves the need to add some new actors.

The first to join is Black Widow, who led Iron Man to the Avengers.

In addition, at Xu Kai's suggestion and insistence, Shang-Chi will be Iron Man's fighting skills teacher, teaching Iron Man hand-to-hand combat skills.

This is certainly a storyline that is not in the original book.

In the original book, before the events of Spider Island, Julia Carpenter asked Shang-Chi to train Peter Parker's fighting skills to make up for the loss of Peter Parker's spider sense, help Peter Parker develop a unique fighting style, and regain Peter Parker's lost power.

In other words, in the original book, Shang-Chi was just Spider-Man's melee teacher.

And in Xu Kai's plan, Shang-Chi will be the melee teacher for all Marvel superheroes, and Iron Man will be his first student.

It's a bit of a stretch.

Today is the time for Xu Kai to decide on the Black Widow candidate.

When the interview recruitment information was first issued, the recruitment information of the artist stated that the role of Black Widow would be "lifelong", that is, to play Black Widow for a lifetime, so if you want to get the role of Black Widow, you have to sign a "lifelong" contract with the craftsman.

In fact, all of the actors who have received Marvel superhero roles from Artisan have signed "lifelong" contracts with Artisan, including Robert Stark.

Of course, the craftsman can't just give the overlord clause and not give benefits.

The recruitment information of the artist also explains that once "Black Widow" is hired, she will immediately star in the two Marvel superhero movies "Iron Man 2" and "Shang-Chi", and the salary is good.

In this way, even with the overlord clause, Hollywood actresses are still flocking to Black Widow, a very attractive Marvel superhero role.

- At present, there are at least ten very famous and powerful Hollywood actresses who want to apply for the role of Black Widow, and several of them have expressed their willingness to sign into Yijiang Film Company to be artists of Yijiang Film Company for life.

Although it is not explicitly stated, those Hollywood actresses who are willing to join Artisan and are willing to serve as Artisan Films for life obviously have a better chance of getting the role of Black Widow.

This is actually quite normal.

Xu Kai is unwilling, half of his Marvel universe will be filmed, and another person will play Black Widow.

Therefore, "Black Widow" will be a long-term partner of the craftsman, even if she is not an artist.

Coming to the headquarters building of the craftsman, Xu Kai walked straight to the interview place.

But just as Xu Kai was about to walk to the interview location, Nicole Johnson, dressed in an OL suit, suddenly appeared in front of Xu Kai and said with a smile: "Mr. Xu, can you talk a few words?" ”

Xu Kai was surprised: "Why did you appear in my company, I don't remember you in the company?" ”

There weren't many people in the craftsman company, and after Xu Kai acquired it, he left a few, and Xu Kai didn't want to make the craftsman stronger and bigger at all, so he didn't recruit new people, but just transferred some management personnel from China, and dug up a copyright manager who was good at dealing with copyright transactions and leasing through a headhunting company to assist him.

Therefore, Xu Kai is sure that there is no Nicole Johnson in his craftsman company.

"Natasha has been trained by secret agents to be the best agent since she was a child, if she can't even infiltrate your company, how can I be qualified to be a Black Widow?" Nicole Johnson said with a smile on her face.

Listen to the gongs and drums, listen to the voices, not to mention that Nicole Johnson has almost made it clear that she is here for the role of Black Widow, so if Xu Kai can't guess Nicole Johnson's purpose, then he will live in vain.

To be honest, Xu Kai actually really wants to see the widow sister in his heart.

But......

At this time, Nicole Johnson suddenly took off her hood, and underneath it turned out to be a very beautiful red hair.

When Xu Kai saw it, his eyes suddenly lit up: "It's more like the widow sister in my heart!" ”

But Xu Kai was still silent.

Nicole Johnson saw it and continued to fight: "Mr. Xu, can you have a drink with me?" ”

Xu Kai shook his head: "No need, I have something to do in a while, and I don't want to go out." ”

"So let's find a place to talk?" Nicole Johnson did not let Xu Kai go because of Xu Kai's refusal.

"Forget it, I don't think it's necessary to talk to you about anything." Xu Kai began to test Nicole Johnson.

Nicole Johnson was a little anxious, she approached Xu Kai a little closer, and said: "Mr. Xu, I know that I made a stupid mistake last time, and this time I will never know how to cherish the opportunity like last time, in fact, I have read all the comics about Natasha, and I am really confident that I can interpret the role of Natasha well." ”

Nicole Johnson's answer this time has made Xu Kai very satisfied, but because Nicole Johnson has a criminal record, Xu Kai still bypassed her and entered the bathroom - Xu Kai wanted to test Nicole Johnson's sincerity and patience again.

Xu Kai stayed in the bathroom for almost ten minutes before he was ready to go out and see, Nicole Johnson was still there?

But at this time, Xu Kai saw a figure leaning over, and then the figure pressed Xu Kai against the wall of the aisle.

Xu Kai found out that it was Nicole Johnson at the first time, but he didn't say anything.

Nicole Johnson thought that Xu Kai was frightened by her actions, so she stepped forward and said, "Natasha's other ability is seduction, and I'm also good at this." ”

Nicole Johnson's words are quite seductive, and the movements are quite in place, but her body is shaking all the time, revealing that she is not as good as she says, and she may not even have any experience at all, otherwise how could she be shaking so much?

Xu Kai couldn't be led by a rookie, so he directly turned against the guest and knocked Nicole Johnson on the wall.

Nicole Johnson panicked when she saw this, and hurriedly said, "Mr. Xu, please don't do this!" ”

Xu Kai stopped and asked, "Isn't this what you want?" ”

Nicole Johnson is indeed ready to seduce Xu Kai in order to get the role of Black Widow, but she obviously overestimates herself, in fact, she doesn't want to be as open as she imagined.

Xu Kai didn't have the idea of forcing others, and he didn't lack women, so why take this risk?

Therefore, seeing that Nicole Johnson hesitated, Xu Kai withdrew Nicole Johnson's arm and said at the same time: "Little girl, if you can't afford to play, don't play with fire." ”

Seeing that Xu Kai seemed to be ready to give up on her, Nicole Johnson, who felt that the role of Black Widow was about to leave her, and was really eager to get the role of Black Widow, couldn't help but ask, "Is this a deal?" ”

Glancing down at Nicole Johnson's beautiful sexy face and hot body, the key is that this is the top cosy, so Xu Kaiyi didn't hold back, and said, "If you think it is, it can be." ”

After getting Xu Kai's affirmative answer, Nicole Johnson closed her eyes and said, "I hope you keep your word, otherwise I won't let you go." ”

Xu Kai didn't pay attention to Nicole Johnson's words, but simply lowered his head and kissed it.

Nicole Johnson, who had been closing her eyes, felt that her lips were bitten by Xu Kai not long after, her teeth were opened by Xu Kai's tongue, and there was only an empty piece of her brain left, she only vaguely remembered that she was dragged to a lounge by Xu Kai, and as soon as the door was closed, she was carried to the bed by Xu Kai......

……

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