Giving the role of the heroine of [Tang Detective 2] to Liu Yifei is not Gu Wei's hot head, nor is it his deliberate overture.

But as a friend, without touching his own interests, he really wants to help Liu Yifei a little, so as to return the favor.

To be honest, the two have known each other for almost 3 years.

Since 2012, when Gu Wei filmed [Embroidered Spring Knife], the two met in the crew, at that time Gu Wei was still a little-known film and television school student, fledgling, no fame, except for money, nothing else.

At that time, Liu Yifei was already standing at the top of domestic female stars, although she was able to participate in this movie for the sake of the face of China Film, but she did use her fame and made a great contribution to the movie.

The box office of the original movie is less than 100 million, and with the blessing of Liu Yifei's fame, and with the excellent publicity that is different from the original, [Embroidered Spring Knife] can sell more than 200 million.

This movie also gave Gu Wei his initial fame, and it was also the first money he made in the entertainment industry.

Liu Yifei did not dislike Gu Wei's small position, and the two became friends.

Later, Gu Wei insisted on filming [Tang Detective], before the movie was released, in order to improve his fame, he sent his own songs for publicity, and asked Liu Yifei for help, and the other party agreed without hesitation.

You must know that with Liu Yifei's character, except for the release of his own movies, he almost never helps others to do publicity.

This time, Gu Wei promoted [The Return of the Great Sage] on the Internet, but he didn't open his mouth, and the other party took the initiative to help, and he couldn't help but accept this favor.

Looking back on the past 3 years of knowing Liu Yifei, as a friend, it seems that the other party has always been helping him, but Gu Wei has never had the opportunity to return these favors.

happened to be filming [Tang Detective 2] this time, and he wanted Liu Yifei to play the heroine, which could not only increase the fame of the film, but also repay the favor by the way.

In fact, although the heroine of [Tang Detective 2] seems to be a good resource, in fact, for ordinary actresses, its role is not as good as a popular TV series.

Because it doesn't attract fans, it can only provide the actress with a beautiful movie performance.

is like the original heroine, because she was not famous, after filming [Tang Detective 2], the movie exploded at the box office, and she was just not popular.

But it's different for 85 flowers like Liu Yifei or Yang Mi, these people's national popularity is already very high, and what they lack is the actual film performance that they can take.

This kind of role allows them to play talents and maximize their benefits.

Just when the online and offline publicity of [The Return of the Great Sage] was in full swing, on February 10th. [The Hunger Games 3: Mockingjay (Part 1)] was released in China.

[The Hunger Games] is a big IP like "Twilight" in Hollywood, and the first two have achieved excellent box office results in the North American market.

This [Mockingjay (above)] reached $333.18 million at the North American box office, becoming the 2014 North American box office champion!

It's a pity that this global blockbuster movie was a little unaccustomed after entering the Chinese market, with a box office score of only 21.62 million on the first day of release, and a Douban score of only 6.2 points, making it the lowest-rated film in the series.

On the 11th, the second day after the release of [The Hunger Games], the national box office reported 19.87 million, a decrease in the normal range, which also indicates that this movie, which can win the North American box office champion for 14 years, may eventually have a box office of more than 200 million in the Chinese market.

Another Hollywood blockbuster is on fire, and this year's Chinese New Year file seems to have some kind of curse, and the movies that are expected to achieve high box office have collapsed one after another, and the film market continues to be cold.

Because there are no good films to be screened, the total box office of national films in a single day continues to decline, and it is not even 100 million yuan on weekdays.

This is a single-day box office result across the country, and it is the hottest Chinese New Year stall in previous years.

You must know that after a year of theater construction in 2015, the total number of theaters in China has exceeded 6,000, and the total number of screens has reached 32,000, nearly 10,000 more than in 2014. The number of screens is directly related to North America, the world's largest film market.

Now there is no shortage of hardware facilities such as theaters and screens, as well as the audience's enthusiasm for watching movies, but there are no good movies to be released.

Last year's Chinese New Year stalls, the viewing conditions were not as good as now, but because of the release of popular movies such as "Detective Chinatown", "Private Custom" and later "Journey to the West: Havoc in Heaven" and "Macau Fengyun", the national box office in a single day is often around 200 million, and it can even reach 300 million at most.

In comparison, it can highlight the coldness of the market at this time this year.

Just when people in the circle were looking forward to the several blockbusters released on the Spring Festival on February 19, the first day of the Lunar New Year, on February 12, [Journey to the West: The Return of the Great Sage] held a premiere press conference for the movie in the large conference room of the Wanda Hotel in Beijing.

As the last publicity before the release of the film, the press conference took advantage of the relationship between Wanda Media and Guangguang Media to invite more than 100 media from all over the country.

Because it was not a premiere, but a film press conference, no stars were invited to help.

There were only the main creative team of [The Return of the Great Sage], the organizer of the publisher, and all the media in the audience.

At 2 p.m., the lights in the large conference room dimmed, leaving only the lights on the stage in front of them.

Gu Wei, as the titular producer of the film, walked on the stage with director Tian Xiaopeng and Wang Changtian, the representative of the film's investor and distributor.

The host of the press conference is Liu Yan of Guangguang Media, she is wearing a blue and white cheongsam today, showing her good figure to the fullest.

After a beautiful welcome speech, the host announced that the movie premiere press conference of [Journey to the West: The Return of the Great Sage] officially began.

The host briefly introduced the basic information of the film's investors, producers, and distributors, and then handed the microphone to director Tian Xiaopeng, who was standing in the middle of the stage.

He is the protagonist of today's real life.

"Hello media friends, my name is Tian Xiaopeng, and I am the director of the movie [Journey to the West: The Return of the Great Sage].

Thank you very much for coming today, to be honest, [The Return of the Great Sage] can be successfully released, and today I can stand here and talk to everyone, all of this is very dreamy for me.

I've been fond of science fiction and animation since I was a child, and after graduating from university, I joined a foreign animation design company.

In 97, my company received the production of some episodes of the cartoon "Journey to the West", and I was responsible for 4 of them.

Later, I came out to run my own company, and in 2007, I saw my son watching Ultraman and Batman at home with relish, and I suddenly felt that I should do something, so I had the idea of making a three-dimensional animated version of [Journey to the West].

At that time, I thought that Americans and Japanese can make good-looking animated movies, why can't we Chinese.

Now that I thought of it, I immediately started to act.

It was at that time that the construction of the Return of the Great Sage began.

Unfortunately, I was still naïve at the time, ignoring the huge cost of making an animated film that could rival Disney in Hollywood.

I emptied my family's money and borrowed money from relatives and friends to make the film, but unfortunately this is still a drop in the bucket for the entire production of the animated film.

And at that time, the market was not optimistic about domestic animation, everyone thought that the content of domestic animation was low and shoddy, and there was a precedent of [Morbius Ring] costing 130 million and a box office of 4 million, and no investor was willing to pay money for domestic animation.

Fortunately, I later met Mr. Wang of Guangguang Media and Mr. Gu of Wei Mingxia, who generously donated money and spared no expense, just to make a high-quality animated film that belongs to the Chinese. ”

As he spoke, Tian Xiaopeng looked left and right at Wang Changtian and Gu Wei.

"I didn't disappoint the two investors, and I finally finished the production of this animated film that took eight years at the beginning of this year.

In my heart, "The Return of the Great Sage" is perfect, and I believe that it will definitely become a milestone work of Chinese animated films.

Thank you! ”

Director Tian looked excited, said a lot of heart-wrenching words, and also put a mouth cannon.

Of course, in his opinion, it was not a mouth cannon, and the [Return of the Great Sage] was indeed that good.

After Director Tian finished speaking, there was applause from the audience, and everyone could see that he had deep feelings for the movie.

The hardships of 8 years of creation cannot be explained clearly in one or two sentences.

Gu Wei and Wang Changtian didn't say anything, and then entered the media interaction session.

The reporters first asked Director Tian some questions about film production, and then the media's attention turned to Gu Wei, after all, compared with the unknown Tian Xiaopeng, Gu Wei is the most famous one related to the movie, and interviews about him are also easier to attract the attention of the audience.

"May I ask Gu Wei, as an actor, how did you come up with the idea of investing in an animated film and serving as the producer of the film?"

A reporter from Sohu Media asked first.

"I also met Director Tian by chance, mainly because his attitude to doing things moved me, plus I watched some of the films that had been produced at that time, and I was shocked, I never thought that domestic animated films could do this to this extent.

So it was logical to invest in [The Return of the Great Sage] and later become the producer of the movie. ”

"Haven't you thought that since the domestic animation market is sluggish, your investment may be wasted?"

Gu Wei smiled when he heard this, and said:

"Investing must be risky, and no one can guarantee that every investment will be successful.

But I think that no matter whether this investment is lost or gained, we are all doing the right thing and working hard for the rise of domestic animated films.

That's enough, and the rest is left to the market and the audience. ”

After saying this, the reporters didn't react much, and Director Tian Xiaopeng on the side looked at Gu Wei eagerly, his eyes full of emotion.

That expression was like the mountains and flowing water, Yu Boya met Zhongzi, and Gu Wei, the "gold master" who was willing to pay money regardless of returns, was his Tian Xiaopeng's "Zhongzi period".

"Can you ask, how much money did you and Mr. Wang invest in this animated movie?"

Gu Wei and Wang Changtian glanced at each other and said.

"The specific investment share is inconvenient to disclose, but I can tell you that the total investment amount of [Return of the Great Sage] is 100 million yuan!"

As soon as these words came out, the audience was in an uproar.

The media exchanged ears, and no one expected that this "cartoon" would cost so much money.

Then, the reporters asked Gu Wei and Wang Changtian some questions about the movie, and both of them have been tested by the media for a long time and naturally responded fluently.

After the interactive session, director Tian Xiaopeng shared some of the difficulties in the production of "The Return of the Great Sage", and also brought several main staff members of his team to come over to talk about it.

The media present also lamented that it was not easy for him to make.

It took more than 2 hours in total, and the press conference finally came to an end.

Looking at the media who packed up their photographic equipment and walked out one by one, Gu Wei said to Tian Xiaopeng:

"Director Tian, don't worry too much, we have done the best we can, like I just said, the rest depends on the audience and the market."

"I also know that I could not have imagined that I could have achieved this level at the beginning, and I am already very content.

I'm afraid that if the box office is not satisfactory when it is released tomorrow, I am sorry for the expectations of Mr. Gu and Mr. Wang. ”

Gu Wei listened to Tian Xiaopeng's words and patted him on the shoulder.

"Put your heart in your belly, why don't you have confidence in your own work now?

We're sure to be a big hit at the box office!

Right, Mr. Wang? ”

Wang Changtian listened to the conversation between the two of them all the time.

He also smiled and said:

"Although I don't have as much confidence as Mr. Gu, I also think that the quality of our movie is good.

And I have more confidence in Mr. Gu, after all, Mr. Gu has been successful since I met him, and I like to work with successful people. ”

"Haha~ Mr. Wang, you killed me, let's benefit each other and make money together."

Listening to the words of the two investors, the tension in Tian Xiaopeng's heart was also relieved.

On February 13, [Journey to the West: The Return of the Great Sage] premiered nationwide.

Due to the strength of the two distribution companies of Guangguang Media and Wanda Film and Television, coupled with the pre-publicity of the film, the proportion of films scheduled nationwide on the first day was as high as 31%.

There are almost no well-known movies in the same period, and the three comedy romance films released last week "Surprise All the Way", "You Love Me", and "Detective Arrives" have shown fatigue after a week of screenings.

And today's release with [The Return of the Great Sage] is a love movie starring Yang Gongru [I Just Want Us to Be Together].

To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that [The Return of the Great Sage] was released in February, Gu Wei deliberately paid attention to all the movies released in February, and he wouldn't have any impression of this movie at all.

A low-cost romance film is estimated to be a double hit at the box office, otherwise the original time and space would not be famous.

It can be said that the [Return of the Great Sage] released at this time is the most beautiful boy in the film market, looking around, there is no one who can fight.

Now there is no need to think about competition at all, and then the box office performance depends entirely on how many audiences the movie can attract.

Another chapter is enough for today, and I will make it up tomorrow, 3 chapters.

(End of chapter)