China Entertainment 1997

"Brother Jia Qian!"

"Yuanyuan!"

"Ah ah ah, Cao Xuan!"

In a theater in Nan City, Gan Province, when the movie screening ended and Cao Xuan and other film creators appeared, the theater erupted in enthusiastic cheers at night.

It's so pitiful that a celebrity road show came to Gan Province, where they had never existed. Everyone was very excited and fresh...

At a time when doubt and joy coexisted in Akarin Province, Cao Xuan and others were already skilled in interacting with the audience according to the process.

Regarding the road show of "Xiu Chun Knife", it is actually biased.

Last year's "When Men Are in Love" was okay. Fanxing Cinemas had just been integrated and the scale was not particularly large. Cao Xuan's roadshow promotion was from north to south.

But this year is different. Fanxing Cinema Line has been integrated and expanded on a large scale, especially in parts of North China and Central China outside the capital. It has become vaguely the first theater chain.

The so-called road show for movie promotion is actually going to local theaters.

On the one hand, it can consolidate some die-hard fans and the reputation of the movie. On the other hand, it can write material for the media and increase exposure. More importantly, it can establish a good relationship with the film studio and increase the film's schedule in the theater chain.

Cao Xuan himself is the boss of Fanxing Cinemas, so it goes without saying that Fanxing Cinemas arranges films.

The total schedule of "Xiu Chun Knife" in Fanxing Cinema is approaching 70%.

And China Film Group is involved in the distribution of the movie. Whether it is New Film Alliance or China Film and Television, China Film Group has a stake in it, so the film schedule is naturally guaranteed.

But in these theater chains in the south, Cao Xuan's impact is relatively limited.

Although "Spring Knife" itself has a strong box office, and the theaters will increase their own film schedules, road shows are still necessary.

Apart from other things, "Embroidered Spring Knife" has such a strong momentum. If it turns around in one or two circles, if the road show is successful, it may be able to earn an additional ten or twenty million at the box office.

Don't think it's a small amount of money, "The Sword" is competing with "House of Flying Daggers" for the summer title.

The latter has strong momentum in the early stage, with its first-week box office exceeding 53 million, while "Xiuchungdao" will have a first-week box office of 45 million.

The difference in box office between the two in the first week was more than 8 million, and it seems that "House of Flying Daggers" is better.

However, "Xiu Chun Knife" has higher word-of-mouth reviews, which also leads to greater box office stamina.

The box office decline of "House of Flying Daggers" in its second week fluctuated significantly, while "The Knife" still maintained a pretty good trend in its second week.

If nothing unexpected happens, "Xiuchundao" will not only make up for the 8 million gap in the first week in the second week, but even overtake it in one fell swoop.

Now, two martial arts blockbusters are dueling at the same time. Who can become the box office champion of the mainland summer season has become the focus of many people outside.

Since the release of "Hero" in 2002, Lao Mouzi's reputation has been so high, and the new picture boss Zhang has been crazy. As a studio company, it has become a representative of mainland film companies.

Even Fanxing and Huayi are currently lagging behind in terms of movies.

There is no way, who made the box office of the new picture awesome? So far, none of the movies produced by Fanxing and Huayi has grossed over 100 million in the mainland.

So even if he doesn't consider making money, Cao Xuan still wants "Xiu Chun Dao" to overtake Lao Mouzi, and he won't make steamed buns to fight for reputation...

However, even if "Spring Knife" can beat "House of Flying Daggers" at the domestic box office, it is being beaten by others in the overseas market.

After all, "Xiu Chun Dao" covers a lot of historical themes. It is said to be a martial arts film, but in fact it is more like a drama film. Although it is not complicated, it still has a certain threshold for some foreign audiences.

It's okay to say that in Asia, especially Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea are all East Asian cultural circles, it's not difficult to accept the plot, and the box office is still acceptable.

The cumulative box office in Japan in two weeks exceeded 4.5 million US dollars.

South Korea has less than Japan, barely 2 million US dollars.

The combined box office revenue in Singapore and Southeast Asian countries was just over US$2 million.

The total overseas box office in Asia as a whole is only about 12 to 15 million US dollars.

The data looks pretty good, easily over 100 million when converted into RMB.

However, this involves spending money from local cooperative theaters and distributors, as well as tax issues. The average amount that can reach Cao Xuan is only about 20 to 30%.

As for North America and Europe, they have secured the opportunity to go to theaters. After all, Cao Xuan has connections at Warner and Universal.

However, the other party was extremely not optimistic about the prospects of "Xiu Chun Dao". Apart from the good martial arts action, there were few other "highlights".

The hard life of three ancient Chinese "policemen" was not interesting to them, and they did not understand part of the plot.

For example, the eunuch identities of Wei Zhongxian and Eunuch Zhao, as well as Dongchang and Jinyiwei are difficult to explain, and they can only be fooled by palace stewards, ministers and the ancient FBI.

But they are very ignorant about the internal fighting among various factions and related situations in the Chongzhen Dynasty, and they don't quite understand the persistence of some ancient characters.

For example, why was the eldest brother obsessed with getting promoted, and why did he come back and commit suicide in the end?

The second child "liked" that official prostitute, why didn't he snatch her and run away?

The third child and his senior brother Ding Xiu have a strange relationship and a deep love-hate relationship.

In these plots, even if Chinese and even East Asian audiences do not understand the history, they can easily understand what is going on and understand empathy.

But Westerners with different ways of thinking have to struggle to understand.

They may not like these aggrieved "Chinese heroes" either.

According to Universal's senior distribution manager, this kind of film is more suitable for being made into a DVD, which can be bought and watched over and over again at home. It is not very popular in movie theaters.

After thinking about it, Cao Xuan also felt that the release would not be pleasing to the eye, so he packaged and sold the non-Asian copyright of "Xiu Chun Knife" to Universal Pictures for US$7.5 million.

In Europe, the United States and Latin America, it doesn't matter what Global Business does, it doesn't matter whether you earn more or less.

Cao Xuan even hopes that Universal Pictures can make more money. It is best if the overseas DVD dividends of "Xiu Chun Knife" will explode, making hundreds of millions of dollars.

At that time, although Cao Xuan must have been distressed enough to vomit blood, the price of "Xiu Chun Dao: Shura Battlefield" could be significantly increased.

Cao Xuan could even enter Hollywood directly, and six major Hollywood companies waved their money to ask him to play the leading role...

And this 7.5 million US dollars, converted to more than 60 million yuan, is also the largest overseas income of the "Xiu Chun Knife" crew.

The amount of money depends on Cao Xuan's fame and popularity, and the current martial arts craze. Otherwise, it would be difficult to sell overseas copyrights for a Chinese-style narrative film like "Xiu Chun Dao".

In contrast, Lao Mouzi is still very popular in overseas markets because of "Hero".

In Japan alone, "House of Flying Daggers" took in nearly 25 million US dollars, and more than 10 million US dollars in North America.

The European data is also good. In the four countries of Britain, France, Italy and Germany alone, the combined revenue exceeds 15 million US dollars, and the cumulative global box office is nearly 100 million US dollars.

It is incomparable to those Hollywood blockbusters, but it is definitely the only one in China, and even more so than "Xiu Chun Knife".

But then again, even if "House of Flying Daggers" gets a low profit margin or just gets royalties, it's still worth a few hundred million here and there.

But don't forget, "House of Flying Daggers" made a lot of money, but the cost was also high, while "Xiu Chun Dao" made less money, and the cost was kept low enough.

If we really calculate it carefully, it’s hard to say which movie is more profitable...

Cao Xuan doesn't care how much money the new picture makes, he only cares about how much he can put in his pocket.

Moreover, he is more concerned about whether "Xiuchundao" can hold Lao Mouzi under his body in the mainland market.

If successful, following Lao Mouzi to the top, Fanxing's reputation will be greatly improved. Fanxing's film and television production has also changed from walking on one leg in the past TV series to having both movies and TV series.

………

Cinema auditorium

After Cao Xuan finished interacting with the audience, he pulled Duan Long over who was hiding on the side.

"Come on, Brother Jiaqian, please say a few words to everyone."

Duan Long waved generously: "Hello everyone, I am actor Duan Long, and I am also the actor Ding Xiu in the movie."

There was applause, and a bold female audience member put her head in and shouted.

"Brother Jiaqian, look at whether I'm moisturized or not."

As the C position, Cao Xuan is the main force in the road show, and sometimes also serves as the host. At this time, he immediately points to the female audience member.

"Please leave your phone number later, and I will help you match up with Teacher Duan."

"Me too, I also want to add Qian."

Another male audience member cheered and shouted, and Cao Xuan looked disgusted: "No matter how smooth the man is, I don't want him."

"Xiu Chun Knife" has been released for nearly half a month. It has been a hot box office and popular, which has greatly helped the actors related to the movie.

Especially Duan Long, he is a relatively unknown actor among several actors, but his role as Ding Xiu is the most outstanding character in the movie.

The combination of the two makes Duan Long the most profitable actor on the cast of "Xiu Chun Dao".

Coupled with the rise of grassroots in the past two years, brothers and sisters are all quite popular.

For example, Xue Zhiqian in "Star of Tomorrow" was nicknamed "Mobile Phone Brother" when he answered the phone during the audition. The first-generation Internet celebrity Sister Furong also began to post photos of herself on Penguin Blog, Tieba and major forums, and she became very popular.

And because the character of Ding Xiu is so likable, the publicity staff of "Xiu Chun Dao", under Cao Xuan's instructions, gave Duan Long the character of "Brother Jia Qian".

They also created a slogan: "No one asked about the supporting roles in five years, and the world knows it just by adding more money."

In fact, Duan Long is not that miserable. Zhu Di, the male lead in "Love Through Time" is still quite popular, but such slogans are undoubtedly more impactful.

Creating a wave in this way can not only increase Duan Long's memory points, but also gain fans through "Xiu Chun Dao".

That is to say, Duan Long is now an artist of Fanxing and a friend of Cao Xuan, so Boss Cao is interested in flattering him, and ordinary people are too lazy to bother.

Thanks to Fanxing’s promotion and marketing, [Jia Qian Ge] has broken out of the circle to a certain extent.

The famous phrases "You have to add money" and "This girl is very smooth" have been widely circulated on Penguin Blog, QQ Space and other platforms, and have even become a bit of an Internet buzzword.

In less than two weeks, the number of followers on Duan Long's personal blog has increased by more than 200,000, and "Xiu Chun Dao" has also gained a lot of exposure.

"Brother Jiaqian" also became Duan Long's nickname. He was a little uncomfortable at first, but was later persuaded by Cao Xuan.

It is so precious for a rising actor to be remembered by the audience.

Become famous first, then become famous, and then think about tearing off the label...

In order to become famous, Cao Xuan sang saliva songs and played the role of Ximen Qing. Now Duan Long is called "Brother Jiaqian". When he becomes famous in the future, the name that people remember will naturally become Duan Long.

Duan Long adapted to the nickname very well, and the audience's discussion of the character Ding Xiu also ranked at the forefront among the many characters in "Xiu Chun Dao".

"Duan...Teacher Duan Long, I saw someone on the Internet saying that Ding Xiu is gay. He likes his junior brother, so he blackmails him. In fact, it is a different kind of closeness.

What he did in the medical clinic was actually jealousy, and it was because he loved Jin Yichuan that he would risk everything to avenge his junior brother. "

"Well……"

This question was really tricky. Duan Long was immediately confused by the question. Even Cao Xuan next to him was stunned before he stepped in to help.

"The logic of your words makes me a little speechless, but what I can tell you is that as one of the screenwriters, there is absolutely no tendency in that regard when it comes to the settings of Ding Xiu and Jin Yichuan. They are brothers. , well, pure brotherhood.”

Cao Xuan felt a little guilty until the end.

After all, if some of Ding Xiu's actions in the movie really followed what gay said, they would really be correct.

So much so that he now even doubts whether the original script of "Xiu Chun Knife" really had this idea.

In addition to Ding Xiu, the audience is particularly concerned about whether there is any relationship between Shen Lian and the heroine Zhou Miaotong.

Does Shen Lian love Zhou Miaotong?

This is a question that many viewers are confused about, and the discussion on the Internet is quite high.

If Shen Lian doesn't love her, then he went to great lengths to redeem himself, run away with her, and even went to prison to save someone for Zhou Miaotong. It doesn't look like an ordinary relationship.

But when it comes to love, the details of Shen Lian's expressions are not particularly right.

Many people suspected that Zhou Miaotong might be Shen Lian's sister when watching the movie, but the movie didn't reveal it until the end. Instead, because Ding Xiu and the last three brothers rode a horse and asked questions, they learned that Shen Lian probably had a lover in Suzhou. .

It's a bit chaotic now, with many people making random guesses.

Some people got the correct answer, sister-in-law, while others thought it was a stand-in joke.

What's more, some people guessed that Zhou Miaotong was Shen Lian's daughter, and the one in Suzhou was Zhou Miaotong's mother.

The most outrageous thing is that Zhou Miaotong and Shen Lian both lost their memory. The woman in Suzhou was a witness, and they went to the place where he recovered.

For all these reasons, netizens and audiences opened their imaginations and asked Cao Xuan and others. Cao Xuan and others also kept telling the audience to go to the cinema to watch it.

Today's audience asked this question again, and Cao Xuan still answered in the same way.

However, there was a little girl who was very smart. She made a detour: "I read the interview and it seems that you have the idea of ​​making a series of "Xiu Chun Knife". Will the sequel of the movie solve everyone's doubts?"

Cao Xuan and Old Monster Xu, who had already read the script of "Xiu Chun Dao: Shura Battlefield", looked at each other, and Cao Xuan nodded.

"The answer will be revealed in the next movie of "Xiu Chun Dao"."

"So when can we see the movie?"

"If nothing goes wrong, the second part of "Xiu Chun Knife" will start filming next year, and we should see you in 2006."

"Will the next movie still tell the story of Shen Lian and the others? Will Ding Xiu appear?"

"The next movie is a prequel to "Xiu Chun Dao", with Shen Lian as the main perspective, and the rest will not be spoiled."

Cao Xuan didn't reveal too much about "Xiu Chun Dao: Shura Battlefield". On the one hand, he wanted to prevent the show from overestimating the show. After all, this is the promotional venue for "Xiu Chun Dao".

The other thing is to whet your appetite. The sequel to such a hit movie has its own popularity and popularity, so there is no shortage of attention.

Compared with publicity, confidentiality should be given priority. The more the outside world is kept from knowing, the more itchy the outside world will be, and the movie will attract more and more attention.

Cao Xuan has also been the boss of a film and television company for several years, and has more or less participated in the publicity work of dozens of film and television projects. He has long been familiar with the marketing and publicity routines, and he can use them easily and grasp them very steadily.

Sure enough, after this road show ended, the media had new material.

It also made the eyes of passersby who were tired of seeing the promotional draft of "Xiu Chun Knife" brighten up.

At the next stop, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, reporters blocked Cao Xuan and others at the roadshow and tried their best to "get" accurate information from Cao Xuan.

The second movie of "Xiu Chun Dao" is called "Xiu Chun Dao: Shura Battlefield", or "The Prequel of Xiu Chun Dao".

Cao Xuan is still the first starring actor, and the director is still Old Monster Xu. Except for a few, the remaining actors have to undergo major changes.

As soon as the news came out, it stimulated the box office of "Xiu Chun Knife". At the same time, Cao Xuan's phone was also flooded with calls...

………

Last year, Cao Xuan's starring debut film "When a Man Falls in Love" won the annual box office runner-up, demonstrating Cao Xuan's box office appeal for the first time.

But there is one thing to say. After all, there is only one movie, and it is a low-budget love movie. It cannot be ruled out that it is due to strong marketing and luck.

Moreover, Cao Xuan himself is popular enough, and the support from fans is also a big help.

At the same time, post-SARS retaliatory consumption and the fact that there were no particularly strong movies in the same period also helped "When Men Fall in Love" to a certain extent.

Anyway, under various circumstances, in the eyes of many people, the success of "When Men Are in Love" relies on the word "luck".

Cao Xuan does not deny this statement, but he does not agree that everything must be attributed to luck.

This year's "Xiu Chun Knife" is a direct rival to "House of Flying Daggers" in the summer release, and it even has a high chance of winning.

It overturned all previous speculations and earned a box office of over 100 million yuan. It can be said that Cao Xuan was furious and also established the name of Fanxing Movie.

Movies have always been Fanxing's weak point before. As a result, although Fanxing is second to none among mainland film and television companies in other aspects, it is unable to truly become the industry leader.

This time, "Xiu Chun Knife" cannot be said to have completely made up for Fanxing's shortcomings, but any fool can see that Fanxing's film sector is gradually gaining strength.

The success of "Xiu Chun Knife" also proves that Fanxing is capable of creating a world in the film field.

As a result, many celebrities and artists who were interested in movies suddenly became eight-dimensional in their enthusiasm for Cao Xuan and Fanxing.

"Hello, Mr. Cao, I'm Huang Xiaoming, I'm sorry to bother you."

"It's okay, just say it."

"It's nothing important. I just recently cast Yang Guo in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". I learned that you are also one of the producers. To express my gratitude, I would like to treat you to a meal."

"Yang Guo? Didn't you agree on Nie Yuan?"

"...Something happened, and now Producer Zhang wants me to act."

"Well, that's it. I'll ask Lao Zhang later if there's no rush to eat beforehand."

In Huang Xiaoming's anxious mood, Cao Xuan hung up the phone.

This yet-to-be-divorced leader Huang used to hang out with Boss Shi and became famous through "The Emperor of Han Dynasty".

Later, although his boss overturned, Huang Xiaoming had already accumulated a certain reputation and moved to Beijing Century Element Company, which had pretty good resources.

Previously, Guolan, owned by Cao Xuan, had invested in "The Romantic Young Tang Bohu" and was even the main producer with a 40% share.

As the male protagonist of the TV series, Huang Xiaoming came over to thank the investor's father. Cao Xuan was very interested in this number one youngster in the Mainland. It was rare to meet him in person at that time and even left a phone number.

Later, Cao Xuan stopped paying attention to him. He seemed to have heard that Zhang Beard was involved in the casting of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", but Cao Xuan didn't pay much attention to him.

Unlike "Dragon" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" Fanxing has a 50% share and is the serious first producer of the show.

Little Dragon Girl has been confirmed to be starred by star artist Liu Tianxian, and Zeng Li will play Li Mochou. If nothing unexpected happens, Guo Xiang should still be Da Mimi.

Originally, Cao Xuan wanted to recruit Yang Guo for Hu Ge's operation, but the three most important female characters in the entire cast of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" were given to Fanxing, and Zhang Dashu was unwilling to give Yang Guo to Fanxing again.

Therefore, Cao Xuan no longer cared about the casting of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

He heard the news before that it was Nie Yuan, and the company he signed with had just won 20% of the share of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". However, he never expected that Huang Xiaoming overtook Nie Yuan in a corner and cut off Nie Yuan.

Cao Xuan didn't think about it for a while, whether he should say hello to the bearded man, but Huang Xiaoming said no.

The acting in the original version was not bad, especially in the later stages, it still had a bit of a Condor Heroes feel to it, but in the early stages it was a bit greasy and exaggerated, and there was no sense of coherence with Liu Tianxian at all.

Generally speaking, it is one with obvious advantages and disadvantages.

If Cao Xuan chooses, he hopes that Hu Ge and Liu Tianxian will be paired together, and "Legend of Sword and Fairy" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" will be able to attract and complement each other.

But Zhang Dabeard refused, and Cao Xuan thought that he would talk to the other party later. If the persuasion was successful, he would try to persuade him again, but if he failed, he would leave it alone.

As for Huang Xiaoming's invitation to dinner, Cao Xuan simply ignored him. There were too many people who invited him to dinner in the past two days, and most of them were women.

On August 14, 2004, less than two weeks after its release, "Xiu Chun Knife" officially exceeded 100 million in box office, becoming the second movie this year to have a box office of over 100 million.

It is also the fourth Chinese-language film to have a box office of over 100 million after the mainland box office has clear statistics.

The first three movies are "Decision of Life and Death", "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers". If imported movies are included, "Xiuchungdao" currently ranks seventh on the mainland box office list.

The first part had such good results, and if the second part hadn't collapsed in quality, it would have a high chance of earning over 100 million in box office.

This is a great temptation for all actors, especially actresses.

Cao Xuan has already decided on the male lead. No matter how good the actor is, he can only be the second male lead, but they can be the female lead.

Currently, among the bunch of little girls, the only ones who can be called "billion-dollar heroines" are Jiujiazhang and Gao Yuanyuan. The others, let alone the billion-dollar heroines, are considered to be the heroines of mainstream commercial movies. .

This also causes many little flowers to want to be the second best in Gaoyuanyuan.

Regardless of whether Gao Yuanyuan's role in "Xiu Chun Knife" is good or not, he has accumulated a wave of qualifications now and has relatively access to more film resources.

Apart from that, in the future, when big directors or Hong Kong directors choose mainland actresses.

Except for the four young actors and a few other popular ones, Gao Yuanyuan is definitely at the top of the list.

Ordinary Xiaohua couldn't get in touch with Cao Xuan at all, so they had no choice but to worry, and those who could get in touch basically contacted Cao Xuan.

Except for Hu Jing, the other three of the four young actresses spoke. International Zhang went to Hollywood to film, and he didn't forget to say hello to Boss Cao.

Xu Cainv used an old friendship and invited Cao Xuan to attend the press conference of her movie.

Li Bingbing also made a special call. After exchanging greetings and congratulations, he asked in a roundabout way about the heroine of "Xiu Chun Dao: Shura Battlefield".

Needless to say, Fan Xiaopang has only made one phone call every day for the past two days. He is more diligent than the two palaces in the east and west. He is afraid that the heroine he has also settled on will be robbed.

Cao Xuan even thought to whet his appetite and hinted that Fan Xiaopang could fly over and warm his bed...

There are also undercurrents surging within Fanxing. Even Liu Tianxian's mother made a special call to test her, hoping that her daughter would enter the film industry, but Cao Xuan directly blocked her.

Let’s first understand the role of Xiao Longnu in “The Legend of the Condor Heroes”!

Cao Xuan didn't even pay much attention to these people. How could he be in the mood to respond to Huang Xiaoming's situation? He was not Boss Shi, so the beauty trick would not work on him...