Huayu’s ex-husband

Chapter 268 267. The new generation of commercial film king, it must be Director Wei

"What do you have?"

Xu Fan, who had just entered the room from outside, raised the red invitation in his hand and said:

"Wei Wu sent us an invitation to attend the celebration banquet of "Painted Skin."

Feng Xiaogang frowned slightly: "Which day?"

Xu Fan replied: "The day after tomorrow at 10 am, Capital Hotel."

"Didn't "Painted Skin" say that the screening will be postponed for one month?"

Xu Fan nodded and said: "Yes, so this celebration banquet is mainly to celebrate the record-breaking box office of "Painted Skin"!"

"Painted Skin" is now holding a celebration banquet not only for celebration, but also for publicity, so it is held in advance.

This situation is quite similar to the celebration banquet of "Silver Driver" held in advance to celebrate the box office breaking 100 million, which is quite similar.

Xu Fan poured himself a glass of water, drank it all, and then looked at Feng Xiaogang:

"Shall we go?"

Feng Xiaogang smiled bitterly and said, "Can we not go? Chen Kaige attended the groundbreaking ceremony of Bad Monkey's 72 Transformations, and Zhang Yimou attended the premiere of Painted Skin.

"They both went, but I haven't made any move yet.

"You also know that Wei Wu is a narrow-minded person. Now that Painted Skin has broken the box office of 300 million and won the championship in the history of Chinese-language films, he is very proud. If you don't give him face, he will remember it?"

When Feng Xiaogang said that Wei Wu was narrow-minded, Xu Fan couldn't help laughing. Now he still had a smile on his face and said:

"Young people are like this. Who doesn't have a strong temper when they are young?

"Chen Kaige had a war of words with Wei Wu before! Isn't it the same as going to show support without saying anything?

"Zhang Yimou's previous film "A Thousand Miles Alone" was released on the same day as Wei Wu, but it was beaten at the box office, and he was ridiculed for this.

"When Wei Wu invited him, he still went.

"At least we don't have any grudges with Wei Wu, so it's good to go and share in the joy. The sedan chair is carried by everyone!"

When Xu Fan said this, she was always paying attention to her husband's face. If there was any change in his face, she would immediately stop talking.

Xu Fan's words were somewhat evasive. If they insist on saying that they have no grudges with Wei Wu, it would be a bit self-deception.

Last year, "The Banquet" would have won the second place in the annual box office if it hadn't been copied by Wei Wu's "Silver Driver".

In the end, it only won the third place, and the second place was snatched away by Wei Wu's "Silver Driver".

However, compared with Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, at least Feng Xiaogang and Wei Wu's grudges were not put on the table.

And to be honest, Wei Wu can't be blamed for this matter.

After all, Wei Wu's "Silver Driver" was scheduled for the National Day, not to make things difficult for Feng Xiaogang's "The Banquet", but mainly to avoid "The Curse of the Golden Flower" during the Lunar New Year.

The reason why Xu Fan wrote in a spring and autumn style was, of course, that she hoped her husband could attend Wei Wu's celebration banquet.

She knew that her husband could judge the situation, but she was afraid that he would get stuck in a rut, and sometimes he was very stubborn when he got angry!

After all, Wei Wu's soaring momentum is unstoppable, and he is so young that it is too late to curry favor with him, let alone offend him.

And now everyone is giving him face, even Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige are no exception, but you Feng Xiaogang don't give him face, isn't that showing you off?

Feng Xiaogang suddenly sighed and said, "Actually, there is one thing that I really can't help but say.

"Now a large number of people on the Internet are advocating that Wei Wu is the savior of mainland actors. But I want to say that there are more commercial blockbusters with pure mainland actors than "Painted Skin", isn't "Assembly" one? ”

Let alone outsiders, even Xu Fan was stunned.

Xu Fan thought carefully, the main actors of "Assembly" are Zhang Hanyu, Deng Chao, Yuan Wenkang, Tang Yan, Liao Fan, Wang Baoqiang, etc., all mainland actors.

Xu Fan slapped his thigh and said: "You're right, isn't our "Assembly" also a pure mainland cast! Why doesn't anyone mention it?

"Since the card of an all-mainland cast is so useful, we can also play it!"

Feng Xiaogang shook his head: "Wei Wu is the first person to try it, so the effect is outstanding!

"Even if we follow suit, it's just a poor imitation.

"People will say that Wei Wu is the first hero, and we are at most opportunists who responded to the revolution, and half of the credit should be attributed to him."

Xu Fan was speechless for a moment, and sighed for a long time:

"Alas, time is running out! It would be great if "Assembly" could be released before "Painted Skin"!"

However, Xu Fan didn't know that in fact, "Assembly" was released before "Painted Skin" in the previous life, almost 10 months earlier.

"Painted Skin" was released on September 26, 2008, and "Assembly" was released on December 20, 2007.

Moreover, "Assembly" is a pure all-mainland cast, while the second male lead of "Painted Skin" is Zhen Zidan, which is obviously not that pure.

Then why doesn't anyone praise Feng Xiaogang?

The reason is very simple, because "Assembly" is a main theme group portrait drama.

If someone wants to argue, what basis do you have to say that "Assembly" is a main theme movie?

The reason is very simple, because "News Broadcast" helped promote this movie, and it was before "Assembly" was released.

For a main theme group drama like this, as long as the acting is good, the box office may be slightly different if you use celebrity actors or ordinary actors, but the difference is not that big.

The same reasoning applies, whether you use Hong Kong and Taiwan actors or mainland actors, it's basically the same.

This is not only true of "Assembly", but also "Operation Mekong", "Operation Red Sea", "Eight Hundred" and "Changjin Lake" without exception.

Even if it is the same main theme movie, group scenes and one-man shows are very different.

For example, "Wolf Warrior 2" and "Operation Red Sea" were the annual box office champions in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

But "Wolf Warrior 2" made Wu Jing famous overnight, and he became a prominent figure in the Chinese film industry.

Being Zhang Yi, the male lead in "Operation Red Sea", the benefits gained from this film are relatively limited.

After all, the impression he left on the audience with his appearance in this movie with a box office of 3.65 billion was not even as good as "The Chaser" with a box office of 135 million!

All I can say is that the audience’s eyes are sharp!

Although "Assembly" has an all-mainland cast, the reason why this situation occurs——

It's not because Feng Xiaogang sided with mainland actors out of selfishness, but simply to save money.

The reason why "Assembly" does not have a single Hong Kong and Taiwan actor is also very simple, because Hong Kong and Taiwan actors are too expensive.

Although the budget of "Assembly" is 80 million, it is still insufficient for a blockbuster film.

Since the last movie "The Night Banquet" lost a lot of money, Feng Xiaogang was not open to increasing the budget, so he could only reduce the budget for actors' remuneration, and finally reduced it to 1 million.

The reason why it can be so low has a lot to do with the fact that most of the actors in this movie are members of Huayi.

Zhang Hanyu had the most scenes and the highest salary in the film, but his salary did not exceed 200,000.

And like Wang Baoqiang and Deng Chao, they all appeared for almost zero pay.

Wang Baoqiang chose to star in the film for free, mainly to repay Feng Xiaogang's kindness in "A World Without Thieves".

As for Deng Chao, it was different. The reason why he did this was to win Feng Xiaogang's favor so that he could get Feng Xiaogang's support votes in the competition for Huayi's first brother.

Unexpectedly, it was self-defeating. Because Deng Chao was in love with Sun Li at that time, he was often absent-minded and occasionally arrived late and left early, which annoyed Feng Xiaogang.

Deng Chao had an idea but failed to implement it.

The flattery was slapped on the horse's hooves, which directly forced Feng Xiaogang into Huang Xiaoming's camp, which indirectly led to his elimination.

His own family knows his own affairs, but others don't know the inside story. Feng Xiaogang naturally has a clear family background.

That's why he didn't dare to play the "purely mainland cast" card, otherwise he might get backlash, and then he would really be "stealing the chicken but losing the rice".

…

Time passed by on July 27. Feng Xiaogang and Xu Fan dressed up and arrived at the Capital Hotel. The lobby on the second floor of the Capital Hotel was crowded with people and guests.

Today, reporters with cameras hanging around their necks can be seen everywhere. After all, the celebration party for "Painted Skin" is being held here.

"Director Wei, congratulations to "Painted Skin" for breaking 300 million in box office!"

Seeing Feng Xiaogang and his wife appear, Wei Wu couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth:

"Thank you, Sister Xu Ban," Wei Wu said, taking the gift box from Xu Ban and saying with a smile:

"Too polite!"

"Director Wei, congratulations to "Painted Skin" for becoming the box office champion in Chinese film history!"

Wei Wu immediately smiled and stretched out his hand to shake Feng Xiaogang's hand and said:

"Thank you. I have admired Director Feng for a long time. Today I can see his true form."

Feng Xiaogang also laughed and said: "I don't dare to take it seriously. During this period, Director Wei Wu's name has really started to grow in my ears!"

"Nowadays, the only mainland director who is the leading director is Director Wei! The king of the new generation of commercial films is none other than Director Wei!"

In fact, if we really want to say it, the king of the first generation of domestic commercial films should be Feng Xiaogang.

In 1998, "See You or Separate" ranked first in the year with a box office of 43 million; in 1999, "Endless" ranked third in the year with a box office of 33 million; in 2000, "A Sigh" ranked second in the year with a box office of 30 million.

"Big Shot" ranked second in 2001 with 43 million, "Mobile" ranked first in 2003 with 56 million, and "A World Without Thieves" ranked third in 2004 with 120 million.

In that era when Hollywood movies and Hong Kong movies were very popular, it was nothing short of a miracle that Feng Xiaogang could consistently rank among the top three of the year.

Then in 2006, 2007 and 2008, Feng Xiaogang won the annual box office runner-up for three consecutive years with "The Banquet" (130 million), "Assembly" (210 million) and "If You Are the One" (260 million) respectively.

In 2009, Feng Xiaogang had no movies released. Then in 2010, Feng Xiaogang won the 2nd and 4th places that year with "Tangshan Earthquake" (649 million) and "If You Are the One 2" (471 million) respectively.

What a terrifying box office dominance this is, which lasted from 1998 to 2010. During these 13 years, Feng Xiaogang released a total of 11 movies.

Even "If You Are the One 2", which was the lowest-ranked movie of the year, ranked fourth in the year.

During this period, Feng Xiaogang won the annual box office championship twice, the annual box office runner-up 6 times, the annual box office third place 2 times, and the annual box office runner-up once.

But if you exclude Hollywood movies and Hong Kong movies from the statistics, you will be surprised to find——

Seven of Feng Xiaogang's 11 films had the highest box office among domestic films that year, and were the annual box office champions of domestic films.

During these 13 years, Feng Xiaogang won 7 domestic box office championships.

Zhang Yimou won 3, "Hero" in 2002, "House of Flying Daggers" in 2003, and "The Golden Armor" in 2006.

Chen Kaige won 1, which was "The Promise" in 2005.

These three brothers have almost won all the annual box office championships from 1998 to 2010. The only exceptions are "Life and Death" in 2000 and "The Founding of the People's Republic of China" in 2009.

However, these two movies are both main-theme movies with a large number of stars starring for free.

It’s not surprising that they won the annual box office championship for domestic films, but it would be surprising that they didn’t win.

It should be noted that in the past 13 years, Feng Xiaogang has not had a movie released every year. He was absent in 2002, 2005 and 2009.

In other words, Feng Xiaogang has only had three movies released, but he has not won the domestic box office championship.

The first time in 2000, "A Sigh" lost to "Decision of Life and Death" and finished second. The second time in 2004, "A World of Thieves" lost to "House of Flying Daggers" and finished third. The third time was in 2006 when "The Banquet" lost to "Golden Armor" finished second.

It can be seen that Feng Xiaogang is indeed the well-deserved king of the first generation of domestic commercial films.

It can be seen from the above data that at least in terms of the movie's box office appeal, Feng Xiaogang is simply invincible!

At the same time, it can also be seen that Chen Kaige is just a make-up person.

The commercial success of his films was completely inadequate compared to the other two directors.

If it weren't for the Palme d'Or, he wouldn't be worthy of being on par with the other two.

But among the strong, there is a strong opponent. Even though Feng Xiaogang was invincible, he was still killed by Zhang Yimou twice in head-on confrontations.

Coupled with "Hero" and "The City of Gold", the box office record of domestic movies has been significantly refreshed twice.

Therefore, Zhang Yimou kicked Feng Xiaogang away and successfully crowned himself the king of the second generation of domestic commercial films.

After all, Zhang Yimou snatched the throne from him, so when Feng Xiaogang said this, he was more or less gloating.

Lao Zhang can't do this either. He has only been on the throne for a few years and his butt is not yet warm. He is about to be kicked down again.

Just like "The Golden Armor", the title of Chinese-language film history lasted for less than half a year, and then was surpassed by "Painted Skin".

This incident can be regarded as the first time Wei Wu lost Zhang Yimou's face in public, including the previous box office performance of "On the Road" which beat "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles" at the box office.

In other words, Zhang Yimou has been humiliated twice by Wei Wu without any courtesy!

Is this Wei Wu Zhang Yimou's destined nemesis?

No, this Wei Wu should be the nemesis of all of us.

This guy seems to have some good luck!

Chen Kaige's "The Promise", his own "The Night Banquet", and Zhang Yimou's "The Golden Armor" have all gained rave reviews!

If the three of us hadn’t stretched our hips one after another, it would have exposed him!

Even if the box office of "Painted Skin" exceeds 300 million, Wei Wu's current reputation will not be so high.

Honestly speaking, "Painted Skin" is indeed good, but it's not that outstanding.

However, due to the three consecutive hits of "The Promise", "The Night Banquet" and "The Golden Armor", the audience's expectations for domestic commercial blockbusters have been reduced to freezing point.

Even if "Painted Skin" is at a passing level, the audience will praise it.

As a result, "Painted Skin" not only passed the test, but was also at an excellent level, so of course it was praised to the heavens.

All I can say is that "every time comes, heaven and earth all work together", it really can't be stopped!

As the king of the first generation of commercial films, Feng Xiaogang's words made Wei Wu couldn't help but feel a little carried away, but he still said modestly:

"Director Feng is such an award! I can't afford such a prestigious title."

Feng Xiaogang came here to congratulate and support him today, so naturally he said something nice:

"If you can afford it, what can't you afford? Let alone the king of domestic commercial films, even if you are the number one director in the Mainland, sooner or later you will have to fall to you."

Wei Wu quickly waved his hands and said, "I can't accept what Director Xiaogang said! You are just flattering me!"

"I still know how much I weigh, so why should I covet that position?"

Feng Xiaogang waved his hand and said decisively:

"I'll leave the words here, it'll be a matter of time!"

Wei Wu shook his head repeatedly: "Director Xiaogang is really good at joking, I really don't dare to think about it.

"Why don't Director Xiaogang invite me in? Please don't praise me anymore, I'm already sweating! I can't stand anymore!"

Feng Xiaogang laughed loudly and said: "Okay, let's go in first and see you later."

"Well, see you later."