1980 My literary era

The movie "Hero" itself is a tribute film to celebrate the return of Hong Kong. As long as there are no major ideological issues, there will definitely be no problem in passing the review, so there is almost no suspense about its review.

But this film still gave a great surprise to many leaders who came to review today. After watching the film, everyone gave the most direct evaluation with long applause.

After the screening, everyone was still discussing the plot of the film with great interest. Several people even grabbed Zhang Yimou. In addition to asking him about some of the designs in the film that they didn't quite understand, they were also amazed at the superb design in this film. Art design and lens language.

With the praise from everyone present, Zhang Yimou's heart that had been hanging around was finally relieved.

Liu Jianzhong smiled and said to Lin Weimin: "I finally know how you dealt with this tragic ending."

"Heroes" uses the shell of Jing Ke's assassination of Qin, but it does not use the names of historical figures. Instead, it fictionalizes a group of righteous men who sacrificed their lives based on historical facts. One of the purposes of this is to avoid the censorship of fictional history. problems that may be encountered during the process.

Another purpose is that although "Hero" is disguised as a historical theme, it actually tells the content of martial arts. If real historical figures are used, it may also give the audience a sense of fragmentation in the viewing experience.

As for the final ending, Wuming (Jing Ke) is definitely going to die. The audience also knows that the ending is destined to be tragic.

But how to find a reason that can be accepted by the audience is crucial.

"Hero" handles this point much better than "The Opium War". When Wuming died, he did not die of exhaustion or inferior skills, but he was willing to die for the sake of the common people in the world.

King Qin Yingzheng may not be a good monarch, but he can at least end the war and let the people of the world live in peace.

Even if the people behind this kind of peace and tranquility may still not be so happy, it is still better than losing their lives.

He is willing to die without a name, but also has no choice, because from his perspective, he wants to change the world and let the people live in peace from now on. This is probably his best choice at the moment.

Sacrificing one person for the sake of the whole world, the assassin Wuming was happy to do so, just like his predecessors who sacrificed their lives for this common goal.

Therefore, after watching the ending of "Hero", everyone present did not feel depressed. What they felt was more of a kind of pathos and heroism, and empathy for the protagonist of the movie.

This ending perfectly sublimates the theme of "hero".

Liu Jianzhong and Lin Weimin joked for a while, and Tian Congming asked: "Is it really scheduled for July 1?"

Lin Weimin nodded, "That's it for this day, it's a gift film. Besides, we have to leave some time for "The Opium War", it would be boring if we all kill each other."

Tian Congming sighed: "If you put it like that, I don't know whether to praise you for being great or for being stupid."

Lin Weimin laughed and said: "Whatever you say, I am confident in the quality of "Hero" and I am not afraid of it in any schedule."

It is true that "Hero" is a tribute film, but the release date is not set in stone.

The reason why Tian Congming asked Lin Weimin this question is because the upcoming July and August will be the most fiercely competitive period of the year in the Chinese film market. In July, "Space Jam" produced by Warner Bros. will be released. , in August there will also be Spielberg's science fiction masterpiece "Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World", and many domestic films will be released.

Hollywood's imported blockbusters have now been labeled as "invincible" in the Chinese market. Generally, domestic films will be swept away when encountering imported blockbusters, even blockbusters that can no longer be produced abroad.

Lin Weimin understood what Tian Congming meant, and his words were actually half true and half false.

It's true that we don't want to compete with "The Opium War" for market share. "The Opium War" is not a good commercial blockbuster, but it is definitely a good movie, and it is a movie that more Chinese people should see.

"I'm not afraid of it in any schedule" is of course a lie. He doesn't have the confidence to compare "Heroes" with "Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World". But fortunately, this movie will be released in mid-August. "Hero" has more than a month, which is enough for "Hero" to harvest the market.

As for "Space Jam", Lin Weimin really didn't take it to heart. This thing is a cartoon and live-action hybrid film produced by Warner Bros. Even if there are many big-name stars such as Michael Jordan as guest stars, it can't change that it is a bad movie. fact.

The global box office of the film exceeded 230 million US dollars, but its success in the domestic market was a rare case in the 1990s when Hollywood introduced a blockbuster film and failed in the market.

The success of this movie also shows that Hollywood blockbusters are strong, but they always have to pay attention to quality.

The day after the film bureau's review was completed, Wenhua Film and Television obtained the screening license for "Hero".

The film is about to be released, and the publicity campaign is like a strong wind blowing yellow sand, overwhelming.

"Hero" is jointly distributed by China Film Company and Yan Film Company in China. Yan Film Company has a tacit understanding with Wenhua Film and Television. They are just publishing in name. Wenhua Film and Television is responsible for the specific promotion and distribution company. Wenhua Film and Television is the symbol of Just pay 5 points for the box office splitting fee.

But China Film Company cannot do that. They are a serious bureau-level unit. Since they want to distribute, they have to give them a solid 17 points of box office expenses.

In order to maximize theater resources, Wenhua Film and Television does not mind paying this money, but the premise is that China Film Company can provide promotion and distribution treatment worthy of the treatment of "Hero".

We can't let Wenhua Film and Television pay all the publicity costs, while China Film just makes all the money.

Some time ago, China Film took over the distribution company of "The Opium War" and spent a lot of money and effort on that movie. Of course, we can't treat "Heroes" favorably.

There are less than 10 days before the release of "Hero", and all kinds of information about this movie have already flooded the streets and media in major cities in the country.

TV, newspapers, magazines, bus body advertisements, elevator advertisements...

Before the box office potential of third- and lower-tier cities has not yet been explored, first- and second-tier cities are the main target areas for film release and promotion. All kinds of information about "Hero" almost fully cover the potential movie audiences in these cities.

Such large-scale film promotion is the result of the continuous burning of film promotion funds.

In just half a month, a total of 20 million in promotional funds were burned, and "Hero" became a household name.

This amount of money was not included in the production cost of "Hero", but was a separate promotional cost, shared by Wenhua Film and Television and China Film Company, with China Film Company accounting for 5 million yuan.

China Film has never done such a loss-making business before the movie has even been released and spent such a huge amount of money on promotion. However, with the support of Lin Weimin behind Wenhua Film and Television, "Hero" is billed as "the first domestic commercial blockbuster" and "the first domestic commercial blockbuster". With the title "Gift Film", they could only hold their noses and accept this account.

Fortunately, 5 million yuan is not too much. According to the distributor's 17% box office split, they only need about 30 million yuan to recover the money. Of course, this is only an ideal situation. China Film Publishing also costs money to distribute, doubling 6,000 yuan. Only if they can make a profit.

The box office of 60 million yuan is not a big problem for a movie of the level of "Hero".

The cooperation with Wenhua Film and Television was not happy for China Film and Television, and the theater chain was not much better.

Later, Zhang Yimou's old partner Zhang Weiping was good for nothing else, but he did have the guts to argue with the theaters. At one time, he won the producer's 38% box office share to 45%, but it was a pity that he was eventually lost to a pair of shameless actors. His brother stabbed him in the back and fell short of success.

The most fundamental reason why it is so difficult to break through the box office splitting of theater chains in later generations is that after the theater chain reform in 2002, theater chains have mastered the terminal monetization capabilities of movies and thus have the right to speak.

At this time, theater chains are still the underlings of distribution companies at all levels across the country, and they dare not speak loudly.

In the past, Lin Weimin felt that the film reform had just started and the market was too small, so he never cared about splitting the box office accounts.

This time "Hero" is about to be released, and Wenhua Film and Television finally shows its fangs.

Wenhua Film and Television directly proposed to increase the box office share ratio of producers from 38% to 45%. As soon as this news came out, distribution companies and their theaters around the world were trembling.

Cruel! How cruel!

This is an ancestral sword taken out for bargaining.

From 38% to 45%, this suddenly reduced their box office share by 7%, which is equivalent to cutting off their flesh.

It is related to their vital interests, and distribution companies from all over the world naturally cannot agree. But at this time, the big brother of China Film and Television opened his mouth and said nothing when facing the lions of Wenhua Film and Television, without any of the domineering leakage when facing them in the past.

China Film Corporation's silence has served as a wake-up call to many dissatisfied local distribution companies.

They almost forgot that behind Wenhua Film and Television is the biggest bully in the Chinese film industry!

This bully didn't come to seize his wife or daughter, he just wanted a few ounces of fat from the stall.

Forget it, bear with it!

In this way, Wenhua Film and Television increased the box office share ratio of "Hero" to 45% with little effort. This move not only benefited themselves, but also benefited many domestic producers.

After the news spread, Wenhua Film and Television's reputation among many film and television production companies in the country became unparalleled, and it became more and more like a big brother.

The publicity and distribution work is still in progress, and as the release date of "Hero" approaches, the various initiatives of the producers and distributors are also constantly improving.

Two days before the movie was released, a massive inspection team set out from Yanjing and rushed to all parts of the country.

When "Farewell My Concubine" was released that year, Lin Weimin teamed up with multiple departments to launch a special campaign to crack down on theft and underreporting of movie box office. The results were fruitful and helped boost the box office of "Farewell My Concubine" to 200 million.

At that time, piracy was not as rampant as it is now, so the main target of the crackdown was to conceal and underreport box office sales. Nowadays, the times have changed, and the focus of monitoring has to change, and it must be replaced by monitoring piracy.

In the past two years, Wenhua Film and Television has organized a group of people to monitor piracy before the release of key projects, but usually the intensity is not too great. After all, this thing consumes huge manpower and capital costs. If it is too big, it will easily outweigh the gain.

But this time the release of "Hero" is different from the previous ones. It is known as the first domestic commercial blockbuster. Not only Wenhua Film and Television and the Chinese Literature Society, but also the Film Bureau and the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television have high hopes for it.

"Hero" is once again a gift film. This time, Wenhua Film and Television teamed up with several investors and the government to send a 500-person inspection team to severely crack down on underreporting of movie box office and piracy issues in various places.

Everything is ready, "Hero" is about to appear!