China Entertainment: Director’s happiness is so simple

The next day, I knew Lu Ping'an was on a plane to Lao America.

When he arrived at Summit Company, Lu Pingping got into work without stopping.

As the soul of the top, there are many things that need to be decided by him at the moment.

First up is Batman.

"Batman" has been released in theaters all over the world. The longest release was in North America, which lasted for a total of three months.

The current global box office has reached 418 million, which is more than 40 million more than the original time and space. It is a pretty good result.

It's just that the box office profit of 418 million is not very high. Excluding production and publicity costs, the total is only about 40 million US dollars.

Ten million of them were squeezed out through various means.

For the first time, Lu Ping'an truly understood why Warner had to make a book loss on "Harry Potter".

But overall it's still pretty good, at least it was successful.

Box office profits are part of it, and disc profits are also starting to be recorded.

The movie has received excellent reviews and its sales have soared.

At present, the disc has been on the market for more than a month, with sales approaching 30 million, and the revenue is about 10 million US dollars. There is no problem that the profit will exceed 50 million in the next five years.

In addition to the disc income of "Batman", the disc income of Lu Ping An's "Chainsaw" and other movies has also exceeded 100 million US dollars after several years of accumulation.

The disc market is indeed not to be underestimated.

In addition to discs and accounts, there is also value-added advertising revenue from the production side and the distribution and screening side.

Just like discs, if a movie has a good reputation, this kind of data will be a huge gap compared to ordinary bad movies.

Moreover, this thing is a false value, and the amount is basically based on speculation.

The better the reputation, the higher the attention and the higher the value.

At present, it has been calculated to be close to 80 million, and it is listed as the 13th Hollywood movie in terms of advertising revenue this year.

The first place is naturally "Star Wars 3". The advertising value-added revenue from the distribution side alone has exceeded 200 million.

In North America, cattle are still Star Wars cattle.

But Batman is pretty good too.

In the middle of this month, the disc of "Beginner Begins: Reloaded" was released.

This film is a documentary about "Beginners", recording the entire success of the film from project establishment to filming to release.

Once released, sales exceeded 50,000 in one day.

In addition, Batman tanks, costumes and other props are also being purchased by many fans. Among them, a rich man offered US$5 million to buy a Batman tank.

Lu Ping'an didn't agree. He was not short of money, and if someone got into an accident while driving, it might have an impact on the sequel, so he kept it secret.

The enthusiasm of fans and the high sales of documentaries have also allowed advertisers and investors to see the deeper potential of Batman's fan base.

Of course, everyone also recognizes Lu Pingan as a director.

Wattsberg said that when Lu Ping An prepares to launch the second film, when the project is established, the advertising sponsorship base will be 100 million.

Everyone understood what it meant, and Lu Ping'an also gave the right words: "The earliest is the end of next year."

"Batman" is the same as Aaron's "Rush Hour."

The series is meant to be used as a way to pressure one’s position.

Before the second one, it's the best time to release an original movie.

Although "Pacific Rim" and "District 9" will not have any risk of failure.

But what if?

In addition, "Batman 2" is extremely explosive and has a huge reputation.

This kind of movie is definitely best played later, for a simple reason.

Watts smiled with satisfaction.

On to the next item.

"Chainsaw 3" has been completed. Lu Pingping will go over to check out the post-production later. I think it shouldn't be a big problem.

Rachel has some problems with "Death Day 2" and the schedule has been adjusted to next spring.

Other movies such as "Insidious 2" and "The Purge" are step by step.

Among them, Lu Ping'an is not planning to film "Human Purge Plan" because he has no time and the pay is too high.

Suddenly raising the cost of this movie from a few million to more than 20 million, the advantage of a small-budget hit was lost.

So we might as well find the original director and give him a chance.

Then there are other projects.

"We're still talking about "Iron Man""

Wattsberg explained that people from Marvel who had been approached before said that they were interested in starting "Iron Man", but they were only interested.

Because the current copyright of "Iron Man" is still with New Line, the copyright is about to expire, but the movie has not been launched.

Tom Cruise has been waiting for this for a long time, and not long ago he also announced that he would give up, saying that this project would not work.

As a result, Marvel came up with the idea of ​​taking back the copyright and doing it themselves.

Thoughts precede action, so I chatted with some directors in advance, including Lu Pingping, who successfully resurrected Batman.

"So it's still wrong?"

"Yeah, we have to wait and see what New Line says."

"Then let's leave it alone."

Then came another blockbuster franchise: The Twilight Saga.

"The other party agrees to sell, but the details have to be discussed."

"Then let's talk."

Lu Ping'an didn't care much. Originally, the film was negotiated by Dingfeng and then successfully implemented, so Wattsberg would be left to negotiate it himself.

What Lu Pingan did was just let him know in advance that he, Director Lu, was very optimistic about this IP.

Then there’s Nolan’s “The Conjuring.”

The film is still in the preparation stage, with a production budget of 30 million.

Nolan still attracted Bell as he did in the original time and space. The two were originally good friends.

Nolan is still looking for the remaining actors.

It is estimated that there will be some differences from the original time and space. After all, Nolan's reputation now is much different from that of the original time and space at the same time.

Finally, there’s “Brokeback Mountain.”

Just as we were talking, Hu Qingquan came back.

Everyone continued chatting, and Hu Qingquan frowned and said:

"Ping An, the situation is not very good."

Hu Qingquan looked worried, and then talked about the specific situation.

It's the end of November, less than two weeks before "Brokeback Mountain" is officially released in North America.

As mentioned before, "Brokeback Mountain" encountered resistance.

But the actual situation is actually more complicated.

The first is the subject matter of the movie, which goes without saying.

The rest are for Lu Ping'an.

Lu Ping'an filmed "Brokeback Mountain" and won an award.

After the rave reviews in Europe, there was a lot of not-so-good speculation.

Some people are speculating whether Lu Ping An is the same person.

In addition, the subject matter is already sensitive, and now that it is about to be released, it has aroused resistance from some religious groups. They are not allowed to let the movie be released, let alone participate in the Oscar competition.

Of course there is support.

Several places in the United States have currently passed bills supporting "sameness."

So for a while, the two groups seemed to have the potential to confront each other.

This also attracted many people who did not mind the excitement.

You know, Lu Ping'an is a little white rabbit in the eyes of his relatives, but in the eyes of the Chinese people, he is a refined, easy-going, approachable and super talented director.

But in the United States, Lu Pingan's image is that of a tough and macho man.

This has been the case since the first time I attended the Oscars.

Confront the smear campaign head-on and declare loudly, "I'm here to fight for the Oscars."

Later on in the show, he bet that the next low-budget movie could still achieve great results, and he actually did it. Just like Bird in the NBA, bragging doesn't count as bragging, but if someone brags about it and actually does it, that's what he does. Really awesome.

Later, Warner took over Batman in the form of being taken advantage of.

In the end, despite all the disapproval, Batman faced off against blockbusters like Star Wars and achieved impressive results.

Although Ping An in the Middle Road has also shown a humorous side.

But all his words and actions are different from the Chinese people in the current impressions of the American media and the public.

This also further strengthened Lu Ping An's "tough" image.

Now that "Brokeback Mountain" is facing resistance, everyone wants to see how Lu Ping An will deal with it and what kind of "hard" method he will use this time.

The traffic has increased and the popularity is very high, but Hu Qingquan feels that this is not a good thing for Lu Ping'an.

Wattsberg knew about this, and he was very worried.

Although he disdains such religious groups, he is not stupid enough to ignore them.

In the United States, anything involving religion cannot be taken lightly.

And he was just worried that Lu Ping'an would be too tough.

So now he reminded: "Lu, you must stay calm and take it seriously. You can't do this kind of thing randomly."

Lu Ping'an couldn't help laughing after hearing this.

He didn't care about the movie's problems, but was concerned about his image in various places.

After being around for so many years, I have really turned into several faces.

"Don't laugh, be serious, this is really no small matter!"

Wattsberg was a little anxious.

But Lu Ping'an was not worried at all.

At this point in time, when issues related to "sameness" are indeed erupting in Laos and the United States.

It seems like "Brokeback Mountain" arrived at the wrong time.

But it just so happens that this movie can become a milestone and have such far-reaching significance because of this timing issue.

The biggest reliance is the movie itself.

This film is not a cry for gay rights, nor is it a conservative observation of homosexuality, but a pure love story.

It can be seen that what Li An values ​​​​is precisely a universal value concept that can be vigorously promoted and foolproof: love can transcend cultural differences. When love comes, there is no difference between opposite-sex love and same-sex love.

It is precisely because the content of the movie actually has no special direction. The whole story is filled with only the most natural "beauty". The "love" described crosses class, gender and culture, and is the most neutral.

That's why it's so successful.

In the words of a critic more than ten years later, "Brokeback Mountain" uses a subtle and silent way to eliminate potential opposition, sublimate the theme of human civilization, and give the movie itself a deeper meaning.

So now that the movie has not been officially released, let them make noise.

Without these hustle and bustle, it would not be able to set off the film's subsequent achievements.

So he waved his hand, "Don't worry, movies are back to movies, and art is back to art. I will handle things from an artistic perspective this time, don't worry."

Hu Qingquan: "From an artistic perspective?"

"Yeah, otherwise what else can I do?"

"That's right." Hu Qingquan was helpless, and then reminded, "There will be a show the day after tomorrow, and there will definitely be targeted questions then. Please prepare your answers, and don't be too clever."

"I've thought about it a long time ago, don't worry"