China Entertainment King of Science Fiction

Chapter 318 Uneasy

Chen Jingxing waved his hand: "Let's shoot both "Spike II" and "Operation Red Sea" on location. Since we are going to shoot high-level military action movies, there is no need to save money in this aspect."

Xu Wenshen routinely emphasized that shooting part of the plot in China would theoretically not affect the quality of the movie: "Some plots can be shot on location in Africa, but many scenes can actually be shot in China, and the architectural backgrounds can be built.

, there are deserts and next door in China, and with the current level of special effects, it will not affect the final film effect.

The most important thing is that shooting in China is controllable, whether it is the construction period or the coordination of personnel. Thousands of miles away in Africa, there are too many uncontrollable factors. That place is a different concept from Southeast Asia."

"A theory is a theory, but what is fake is not real. The director and actors can feel it, and the audience will definitely feel it too." Chen Jingxing shook his head, but decided to shoot both movies on location in Africa.

Chen Jingxing has made so many movies, and he has gradually understood why some directors' pursuit of truth sometimes even seems too picky.

Whether it is true or false will definitely have an impact on the director's creation and the actor's performance, and these will be reflected on the big screen.

Chen Jingxing supports anyone who can shoot on location.

The main reason is that "Gravity" is in space, and you can't go to space to shoot it. "The Matrix" is set in a magical city, but it's impossible for you to "wreak havoc" in such a big city, let alone "The Martian."

He said, there is no way to go to Mars to take pictures.

He has been in studios or setting up scenes to shoot movies for a long time. This is due to the limitations of the subject matter. This does not mean that Chen Jingxing really loves CG and other special effects technologies. This is something that he can only slowly realize after making so many movies.

something.

Although it was a meeting of the "DreamWorks Project Approval and Review Committee", Chen Jingxing's decision was naturally the committee's decision, and Xu Wenshen's "countermeasures" were just a routine matter. In other words, without Xu Wenshen's opinions, how could it be shown that Chen Jingxing was not interested in the decision?

What about the support from Wu Jing and other directors?

Besides, although this kind of military action-themed films are a relatively rare type of domestic film, and they are definitely box office bombs, "Mekong" is a good start for this genre, but in order to keep the market hungry, "Mekong"

"Spike II" and "Operation Red Sea" are not suitable for being too close together. There should be at least a year between the release of the two movies.

The rise of DreamWorks was faster than people imagined, causing it to grow into a towering tree after only two rounds of financing. Shareholders who wanted to expand their equity in subsequent rounds of financing quickly went bankrupt.

"Tomb Raiders" will be released on July 30. It has tried its best to avoid the edge of "Gravity" but was still swept away by the typhoon. In addition, the reputation is not good, it has declined before it flourished, and the decline is obvious. "Memories" can guarantee that it will be released in the theaters.

The film schedule on the premiere day surpassed "Tomb Robber" and ranked second..."

August 5th is the first Friday in August, and the 9th is the Chinese Valentine's Day. Movies that want to attract couples at the box office, or are interested in making a difference in the second half of the summer season, want to schedule their releases on this day, so the competition is quite intense.

fierce.

If the 400 million invested in "Gravity" two years ago failed in the end, it would definitely be a dent for DreamWorks, but this time two projects will also need to invest 400 million or more - "Operation Red Sea" and "Operation Red Sea"

Co-produced by China Film and Television, "Spike II" Wu Jing also has an investment share of 100 million - but it is no longer a financial burden for DreamWorks now.

However, as a mature capitalist, Chen Jingxing will certainly not let Guo Fan completely rest. "Operation Red Sea" has a ready-made script, so Guo Fan does not need to worry about it, so he can put "The Wandering Earth" on the agenda.

In the past life plane, "The Wandering Earth" itself is a short story. How short is it? It is only more than 20,000 words.

Guo Fan is very happy to have some rest.

"Well, this is already an overestimation that we have tried our best. In fact, judging from the pre-sales situation, "Your Name" can only be ranked third among the four new films released on August 5." The person in charge of publicity and distribution tried his best.

I want to enhance the persuasiveness of my words and dispel the boss's suspicion.

"What about "Your Name"? Is the film schedule really only 8.4%?" Wu Zhaoxian asked with a frown.

The company established by Guo Fan has actually been collecting some science fiction works on the market, and has also bought the copyrights of several science fiction novels that he believes have potential to be adapted into film and television dramas. He is planning to see if he can get support from DreamWorks in the future, or

Now that I have money, I can make movies and TV series.

As a person who likes science fiction, Guo Fan is very keen on whether a science fiction story has the potential and space to be adapted into a film and television drama. Therefore, after Chen Jingxing narrated this story, he had a strong intuition that this science fiction background setting

There is much to be done.

To be honest, I really admire Chen Jingxing's courage to have "too much money and nowhere to spend it". If it were the theatrical version of "Space Battleship" or "Star God", he would probably be able to make a difference, but according to our

According to the public opinion observed, anime fans seem to have little interest in "Your Name". They prefer adventure and hot-blooded series, and are usually not interested in realistic-themed works, let alone original or even love-themed animations."

So the shooting may need to be done in order. Since the background is all in Africa, many things can be shared, so there is no need to waste resources.

The relationship between Tianrun and DreamWorks began to estrange because of the initial opposition to the project of "Gravity". Later, after experiencing the unprecedented success of "Source Code" and being kicked out by him as a scapegoat, Xu Wenshen became the CEO of DreamWorks.

It is also difficult to make up for it. Even the several negative public opinions that Chen Jingxing and DreamWorks experienced later were more or less fueled by companies including Tianrun.

Guo Fan has no objection to this. The filming and production of "Edge of Tomorrow" has improved his grasp of heavy industry movies, but it has also left him a little exhausted mentally and physically. Even though he has the talent to manage such projects, he still has

Undertaken a lot of pressure.

Therefore, Chen Jingxing decided to shoot "Spike II" first, and then "Operation Red Sea", which together with "Mekong" will form DreamWorks' military action trilogy.

Of course, Guo Fan accepted this "task" without any suspense. After filming "Mekong", he actually didn't have much excitement about military action movies such as "Operation Red Sea". It was nothing more than a big "Operation Mekong".

"That's all, science fiction movies are his favorite subject.

When the persona of the big boss is a movie director, an artist, a lavish spender, and the ideal and glorious side of DreamWorks, then naturally, as the company's chief steward, he has to be responsible for showing off the real side of a film company.

But this cannot soothe the pain in Wu Zhaoxian's heart. If Tianrun Pictures can participate in the investment of the "Gravity" project like China Film, Fantasy World, and Penguin...

His feelings for Chen Jingxing and DreamWorks are quite complicated. Although Tianrun is a shareholder of DreamWorks, those shares do not have any power at all, especially when faced with Chen Jingxing's over 70% shareholding.

There was silence in the conference room, and then the person in charge of the publicity and distribution management department of Tianrun Pictures spoke up: "Mr. Wu, this should be the situation in the film schedule. "Gravity" should still occupy the most films in the film schedule on August 5th.

, followed by our new film "I'm Waiting for You in Memories" which premiered that day.

This cost is equivalent to that of a "Gravity" movie.

Another executive seemed to be explaining and comforting the big boss: "Mr. Wu, although "Your Name" is a movie produced by DreamWorks, it is an animated movie, and it is also a 2D animated movie. There is no

It is said that the investment for any original script supported by IP is 50 million, which is almost the same as our "I'm Waiting for You in Memories".

The only consolation is that investing in DreamWorks is definitely a very successful case in terms of financial investment. When DreamWorks goes public, the tens of millions invested by Tianrun in the first two rounds of financing will be worth billions.

But the journey of wandering the earth for two thousand and five hundred years can open up a very large space for imagination. The more than two thousand words tell not only a story, but a world view.

However, both of these projects are considered large-scale industrial films. They may not involve so many special effects, but the manpower and resources required are no less than those of "Edge of Tomorrow".

The plot is also very simple and can be finished in ten minutes.

After arranging the film projects of Mo and DreamWorks in the next one or two years, Chen Jingxing immediately started filming "The Martian". Although the popularity of "Gravity" at home and abroad has not yet come to an end, the final box office results

It's pretty predictable. It's been released in major markets one after another, so there will basically be no surprises or surprises.

"The script of "Operation Red Sea" has been completed a long time ago. It just so happens that you can take advantage of this break to ponder the story of "The Wandering Earth". I have already said hello. You can find a few screenwriters on the screenwriting team to see if they can

You can't polish a script, but as long as the script is good, no matter how big the scene is or how high the investment is, DreamWorks will fully support it." Chen Jingxing dropped the bait to seduce Guo Fan.

There is no perfect film industry system. To make an industrial film, the director must be a "jack of all trades" and be responsible for every field. It is like if there is no production line, he must think about the reference and manufacture various parts to put together a car.

Cars are average.

Wu Zhaoxian felt a little comforted by these words, but he still had a little uneasiness that could not be resolved.

Wu Zhaoxian, the boss of Tianrun Pictures, listened to the report of his subordinates impatiently, and interrupted after a while: "Is this the final prediction?"

After all, China has not yet formed a mature film industry. Chen Jingxing and he, or DreamWorks, are actually the pioneers and the trailblazers.

After the meeting, Chen Jingxing left Guo Fan alone, who was a little confused, and told him the general plot of "The Wandering Earth".

It's just that unlike Chen Jingxing's decision to go ahead with the "Gravity" project when he faced a lot of opposition within the company, this time the decision to make two military action blockbusters did not trigger any reaction. This also reflects the growth of DreamWorks in the past two years.

speed.

…

However, this does not mean that Xu Wenshen is just acting and does not feel heartache. If "Wolf Fang II" and "Operation Red Sea" were shot entirely on location in Africa, the combined budget cost of the two films would probably be less than seven or eight dollars.

It's impossible to get down to 100 million, maybe even more.

But money can't buy the medicine for regret. After "Gravity" was released, Wu Zhaoxian began to suffer from headaches and heart palpitations. He didn't even dare to go online and didn't dare to see the box office results of "Gravity" at home and abroad. This might make him

Regret and jealousy overwhelm reason.

And the sudden release of DreamWorks' "Your Name" made Wu Siu-hsien feel uneasy.

It is true that pre-sales are average, it is true that the film schedule is much lower than Tianrun's new film "I'm Waiting for You in Memories" released at the same time, and it is true that 2D animation with realistic themes is not pleasing to animation fans. These analyzes are all reasonable...

But it still couldn't dispel his uneasiness, because it was DreamWorks after all.

(End of chapter)