I’m a Director, I’m Not Bad

Chapter 187 185 Only Two Names

Chapter 187 185. Only two names

"Have you paid back your money?"

Xu Daqiang's first reaction was that the money should be enough to repay the capital, right?

It's not that he cares about money, but as a businessman, he is accustomed to deducting costs first and then calculating profits.

As for whether the box office is high or low...

To be honest, it's more than 10 million, I really can't tell whether it's more or less.

But as long as the money can be recovered, it means that I did the right thing.

Xu Xin shook his head:

"No, only 50 million in box office will make the money back."

"...?"

The middle-aged man was stunned.

With an investment of more than 10 million, only 50 million can be recovered?

Is this a spreading business?

Xu Xin also knew that his father did not understand, so he explained:

"The box office of 10 million has to be shared with others. The net profit is about 35%."

"...This is a business after all."

Xu Daqiang rolled his eyes directly.

The amount of coal one owns is mined from the ground.

Although there are also losses in investment, labor, equipment and the like. But overall, nothing. But now his son has started a business that only earns 35 yuan for 100 yuan... which makes him really speechless.

The movie is pretty good too.

Can……

Just don’t make money!

but……

"Okay, I understand."

Xu Daqiang, who had waited all night with his son after attending various social events and entertainments, stood up and walked directly towards the second floor.

It's time to go to bed.

I'm sure I'll have a good night's sleep tonight.

And Xu Miao and Zhang Qianqian also said:

"Sanjin, we are leaving too. We have to go to Yanjing tomorrow. Do you want to send you something?"

"No, sister-in-law, you go to sleep."

Their house is in the yard next door, so they don't sleep here.

And after everyone left, there was no one in the living room.

Xu Xin quietly lit a cigarette for himself, but suddenly there was a trace of regret in his eyes.

14.8 million.

Or to put it another way, it’s 14 million.

It's a million dollars worse than Director Zhang's "A City Full of Golden Armor".

The first-day box office of "The Golden Jacket" was 15.7 million.

This is the current first-day box office record for a domestic movie.

The movie ticket costs 45 yuan each, which means that on the day of release, 350,000 people poured into the cinema on the first day to watch the movie.

To be honest, Xu Xin never dared to think that one day he would be only one million away from this record.

He thought...with three to five million, he would be very content.

The first work, I didn’t feel anything like it when I first shot it. But when I think about it recently, I realize that there are actually a lot of things that can be improved. If I were to shoot it now, I would probably only need to delete a few scenes from the three- to five-minute plot. Maybe this movie has a different flavor.

There are still many shortcomings.

Of course, now that the deal is done, it's all in vain.

Xu Xin can only say to write down all these inspirations and then use them in the next movie.

And just before receiving this text message, he never thought that he was only one step away from breaking Director Zhang's record.

In fact, it sounds like you are overestimating your capabilities. What is Director Zhang’s height? What is your height?

Do you want to challenge Director Zhang for your first work?

If others knew his thoughts, they would definitely think Xu Xin was crazy.

It's too overestimating.

Xu Xin also felt that he was crazy.

What he wants to learn from and surpass Director Zhang should be his artistic attainments, his ultimate pursuit of aesthetics, and his humble and sober heart in terms of artistry.

These are the qualities he wants to learn from his teacher.

Can……

Still can't stop.

Unstoppable regret.

Uncontrollable thoughts.

Uncontrollable greed...

Just one million short.

Even if this record only lasts for a while, it will be broken sooner or later.

But... I still want to taste the taste of being number one.

There was a trace of unwillingness in his eyes.

I wish I could spend one or two million and sit on the throne called number one temporarily.

But he couldn't do this kind of self-deception.

There is no point in doing it.

but……

Pity.

Unwilling to do so.

Not convinced.

And a sense of fear hidden underneath.

For no reason, he thought of something.

just in case……

What if I can never make this kind of movie again?

It was like eating a pig's tail, he was very scared.

Even though my intuition told me, no.

There will definitely be better works waiting for him in the future.

But... there is still one in Wanli!

…

Let's put it this way, Xu Xin's mood is really complicated now.

It sold more than 10 million yuan on the first day, which proves that the commercial nature of this film is recognized. Usually, the prime time for a film is the week starting from the next day.

In a week, a movie will get...basically at least 40% and up to half of the movie's box office during the screening period.

Although it is not particularly scientific data, it is not bad at all.

The peak popularity of a movie is probably between 10 and 13 days. And if it can reach more than 10 million on the first day, then Xu Xin can say that there will be no problem in returning the money.

It will definitely sell well.

It is a dream for any new director in the film industry to have a successful debut film.

Because it proves that he has a work that can be remembered.

From then on, the investor's door will always be open to him, at least until he pounces. It's hard to say whether he is a first-tier actor or a first-tier actor, but almost all actors below the first-tier level have had the opportunity to work with him.

Moreover, the fame and status that came with this movie transformed him from an "unknown person" to a new star who is at least popular in the industry.

And these were obtained overnight.

Look, the film industry is so realistic.

Does Xu Xin like it?

Definitely like it.

But Director Zhang's words always stayed in his mind.

Everything mentioned above was brought to him by the movie, and all he has to do is to continue shooting and make good movies.

What is supposed to happen will come naturally.

Whether it seems to be a flash in the pan or whether it jumps to the upper level and establishes a firm foothold is another story.

But personally, this record was only less than one million short of fifteen million... but it made him feel mixed.

At first, I didn't think about it.

But after discovering that he was within reach but out of reach, that greed began to drive him and torture him again...

Make him feel bad.

"Hiss~~~Pfft..."

Finished a cigarette.

His eyes became determined.

Decided!

sleep!

When I fall asleep, I don’t think about anything.

If it doesn’t work this time, then next time!

Isn't it a box office record...

I'll get it one day!

trust yourself! Xu Xin! You are the best... ha.

Suddenly, he laughed at himself.

Shaked his head.

Why are you acting like a child...

…

This night is destined to be a very complicated night for the crew of "The Untold Secret".

But early the next morning, when people from Xi Film Studio sent the first-day box office data to major websites, and when they saw that the first-day box office of "The Untold Secret" was 14 million, many people actually had more thoughts than these relevant personnel. More complex.

The production costs of the film have long been disclosed.

The production cost + post-production cost was less than 13 million.

However, depending on the level of publicity...the estimates given by the media are also very accurate.

The production + post-production + publicity of the entire movie should be between 18 and 20 million.

The actual situation is not.

Because of Jay Chou, some of the variety show venues he promoted not only cost nothing, but actually made money. In addition to the attention gained after winning "Cannes", there is no need to spend anything special on the promotion channel. Therefore, including promotion and distribution, it does not exceed 16 million, the original budget of the film.

In other words, the investment in this movie is only 16 million.

According to the three times principle, excluding the post-production DVD and overseas release costs. As long as the domestic box office reaches about 48 million, the money can be recovered.

This seems very high at first glance, after all... Judging from July, the total investment in a movie such as "A Better Man" was less than 6 million. "Whenever Things Change" has already grossed 7 million at the box office in Hong Kong and Taiwan and 2.3 million at the mainland box office. And its investment is only 2.8 million.

It can be seen that Xiangjiang movies have not yet broken away from the concept of using small things to make a big difference.

At least, that’s what the older generation of filmmakers still insists on.

But that’s not actually how it works.

The box office of 50 million is indeed high, but it also has subsequent output and income. The DVD market, as well as overseas theater chains and DVDs, are also big markets.

Therefore, according to the estimates made by the people at Xiying Film Studio, this film will earn back its capital at about 30 million, and will start to make profits after crossing the 35 million line.

In other words, even if "The Untold Secret" is taken off the shelves without reaching 48 million at the box office, it will still be able to make up for itself in other ways within the next year.

Not just "The Secret", this is almost a recognition in the film industry.

As long as the box office is more than double the investment, it is almost equivalent to a return on investment.

Otherwise...if we really follow the three-fold principle, then the domestic market will not be able to continue at all.

Because compared to Hollywood, where this principle was introduced, the mainland's film market can only be said to have just stepped onto the right track. There is still a long way to go before a hundred flowers can bloom, copyrights are regulated, and piracy is eliminated.

Otherwise... Director Zhang's "Golden Armor" only received 290 million at the box office with an investment of 320 million, and it would have exploded long ago.

But in fact, this film has grossed close to 180 million at the overseas box office, and its DVD sales are pretty good.

The compensation will definitely be compensated, but it will be controlled within 100 million.

So, on the morning of August 1st, when people saw that the first-day box office of "The Untold Secret" was as high as 14 million, everyone in the circle knew...

This movie was a blast.

Xu Xin's mobile phone text messages began to be flooded with congratulations.

More than 3,000 people on Douban rated it 8.8, and there have been more than 8,000 comments.

42 hot reviews.

After the end of August 1st, the box office on August 2nd was: 15.5 million!

The total box office in two days exceeded 30 million!

Rated by 5000 people: 8.9

Over 10,000 comments.

Number of hot comments: 77.

At the same time, "The Secret That Can't Be Told" returned to the top spot on all major charts.

Then came the rise of an industry.

Inexplicably, in the second half of this summer vacation, many parents suddenly found some piano training classes with their children.

Search volume for "Douqin" began to surge.

At the same time, on August 3, box office: 14.2 million!

Then, "The Secret That Cannot Be Told" met its first opponent.

Hailed by the media as "Hong Kong Film's Shocking Bet", "The Fuse" with a total investment of US$10 million was released.

Not only are martial arts stars such as Zhen Zidan, Gu Nile, and Zou Zhaolong starring, but also the popular mainland Liang Binning has joined the cast, and the media popularity has been very high.

Big scene, big production!

At the beginning, the media also exaggerated that this was a dispute between "Hong Kong and Taiwan" movies.

The battle between literary and martial arts.

As a result, on the morning of August 4, when the box office of August 3 was announced, people were completely lost in thought when they looked at the 14.2 million box office of "The Secret" and the 4.6 million box office of "The Fuse"...

One is a small production with a cost of 16 million US dollars, and the other is a large production with a cost of 10 million US dollars...

It seems... a little different from what we thought.

But no matter what, with the experience of Xi Film Studio, from the very beginning, they avoided the trouble of comparing "The Untold Secret" with any other movie.

Because the essence is different.

One is a campus youth romance film.

Other movies are either anti-drug and anti-mafia crimes, or shootouts between cops and robbers.

The types of films are all different, so what can be compared?

If you really want to compare, it might be comparable to "Whenever It Happens", the only love-related movie in the summer season.

But although the latter is also small and powerful, the problem is that with a total investment of only two million, it is too small and incomparable.

There is no comparison, no harm, and no trouble can be caused to yourself.

"The Secret That Cannot Be Told" suddenly became a little white flower in August.

I play my piano and love my love.

We have different audiences for your movies that involve blood and flesh, so we won’t get involved with them.

Coupled with the fact that the leading actors were able to keep a low profile, after a week passed, "The Untold Secret" announced its first week box office.

97.5 million…

Unexpected and reasonable.

It makes sense that domestic films still have not exceeded 100 million.

But...it seems to be getting closer and closer to this number.

The unexpected thing is...

The 16 million-dollar movie has quietly sold 100 million in one week, along with "The Secret That Cannot Be Tellable" that was sung in the streets and alleys...

Big profit, special profit, bloody profit.

Moreover, in 8 days it exceeded 100 million, ranking behind "Golden Armor in the City".

Ranked among all Tianchao Film and Television films’ fastest time to reach 100 million...

the third!

Only ranked behind "Transformers" and "Golden Armor".

As soon as this result came out, many people couldn't even believe it...

But when the real results were before their eyes, they couldn't help but not believe it.

And the first cascading effect of this real result came out.

On August 8, just when it was announced that the box office of "The Untold Secret" exceeded 100 million and ranked third in film history, the new version of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" produced by Zhang Jizhong was released.

Although the promotion of the TV series is different from that of the movie, it is not as high-profile as walking on the streets, but in the posters released by the film crew, as well as the preview footage on the Zhejiang TV website and TV stations, the name "Yang Mi" has already replaced "Huang Rong" and "Guo Jing" , "Guo Fu", just behind "Little Dragon Girl" played by Liu Yifei.

And, this was still in June.

On the night of August 8th, even though it was known that Yang Mi and Guo Xiang would not come out for the time being, the ratings for the premiere of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" far exceeded the 3% qualifying line and the 5% predicted by the media. The average line has reached 7.76%!

In one fell swoop, it broke the TV series premiere ratings record since the launch of Jiangsu and Zhejiang TV stations, allowing Jiangsu and Zhejiang TV stations to experience the sweetness of having a first-run TV series ratings of over 7 for the first time.

At the same time, Guangdong TV station was not to be outdone and released its TV series schedule for September.

In "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio", there is a special line:

""Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" - "Nie Xiaoqian" unit drama is starred by the well-known movie star "Yang Mi"."

The name Yang Mi immediately started to move towards becoming famous, thanks to the help of Mou Girl.

Yang Mi... is on fire.

But the more popular one is Guilun Mei.

After the film was broadcast, Gui Lunmei was affectionately dubbed the "goddess of literature and art" by fans. When she returned to Wanwan, she was not only welcomed by fans, but even caused congestion at the airport during the news media's broadcast. .

Numerous offers for literary and artistic films flew to her agency like snowflakes.

Remuneration began to rise steadily.

The collateral effect of "The Secret That Cannot Be Told" has increased the popularity of all three leading actors!

Along with the box office of "The Secret" which is rolling forward and getting out of control, the entire August begins to move forward at a rapid pace.

And to say that the one who has gained the most is probably Jay Chou.

After the box office of "The Secret That Cannot Be Told" exceeded 100 million on the eighth day, Jay Chou had already rushed back to Wanwan and planned to finish shooting the MV for a new song "I Don't Deserve" during his break from leaving for Korea. When Jay Chou called, he received an invitation.

Movie invitation.

He was very moved, and then dialed Xu Xin's phone number.

"Hey, A Xin, I received another movie invitation..."

"Saying! You mean peeing!?"

Amidst the loud music, Xu Xin stood on the edge of the Shenmu Stadium, holding a phone and watching the Olympic Games team playing gongs and drums amidst the music, and said with difficulty:

"spread!?"

"...Are you busy? Let me make a long story short. I accepted a basketball movie script and plan to star in it."

"……basketball?"

The venue was so noisy that Xu Xin covered one ear speechlessly and said:

"Then what? I don't have time to direct the film! Can you wait? After the Olympics is over, I will help you direct it after reading the script."

"Well……"

As soon as these words came out, to be honest, Jay Chou felt warm in his heart.

Without even reading the script, A Xin agreed after just one phone call.

This friendship...

Really heavy.

It's a pity that A Xin can't participate in this film. And his original intention of letting Xu Xin help him read the script was abandoned.

Never mind, things about this movie are... complicated. It's not just a simple movie, but it has something to do with some local societies in Wanwan. After learning about this relationship, he immediately gave up the idea of bringing Xu Xin over to make money together.

But I have developed a habit. If I don’t have A Xin to give me guidance on a script, I will always feel guilty...

Even if the script looks okay... there should be no problem.

But...since A Xin is so busy, he can't delay his friends' important things because of himself.

So he said:

"No, no, I mean, I will come and play with you during the filming process. Don't work too hard. Take care of your body. That's it."

"Saying!? Oh, speak louder! I can't hear you clearly!"

"I can't bear to hear it anymore. Take care of yourself! Don't work too hard! I'm dead!"

"ah……?"

Before Xu Xin could figure out the purpose of his call, Jay Chou hung up the phone.

Xu Xin sent another message to inquire, and after receiving the reply "I just care about you, my great director. I'm going to shoot the MV," he ignored the matter.

Then... one night about... a few days later, Xu Xin suddenly saw a message.

"Jay Chou was paid 10 million yuan to join the cast of "Slam Dunk". This kung fu basketball movie is directed by Zhu Yanping, starring Jay Chou, and starring Eric Tsang, Choi Zhuoyan, and Chen Bolin. The total investment exceeds 70 million yuan."

The movie budget is 70 million.

A salary of 10 million...

But this news alone is not enough to prove the value of the absolute leading actor in "The Untold Secret".

"Wilson", the golden supporting character of "Forrest Gump", the volleyball brand "Wilson" announced its sponsorship of "Slam Dunk" with a sponsorship fee of 15 million.

"Reebok" announced its sponsorship of "Slam Dunk" with a sponsorship fee of 10 million.

The movie hasn't started shooting yet, but it has already paid back 25 million.

This shows how valuable the name "Jay Chou" is in today's entertainment industry.

Although the movie "Slam Dunk" has been a hit and has a box office of more than 140 million, "The Secret", which is known as "the biggest dark horse of domestic movies in three years", is suspected of being popular.

But it is undeniable...

When this news came out, countless movie fans were refreshed again!

At the same time, good news for "The Secret That Cannot Be Tellable", which has been released in theaters in South Korea and Japan, began to come out one after another on August 18th.

The first is South Korea. Koreans gave this movie very high scores.

It is known as the best youth love movie I have seen in "ten years".

On the day the movie was released, the score was as high as 9.4 on South Korea's IMDB. With numerous positive reviews, the movie was viewed by more than 70,000 people within a week!

Let’s talk about the difference here.

Except for movies with huge discounts, the ticket price for Korean movies is a flat 8,000 won.

That works out to about 40 yuan.

So they don't need to count the box office, they only need to count the attendance.

The total box office revenue of a movie can be calculated from the number of people it screened.

Korean.

I understand everything.

If we really count the box office, the box office of "The Untold Secret" in South Korea has exceeded 5.6 billion... Korean won.

If calculated, the box office is probably more than 3 million.

Too little will embarrass Koreans.

So...they only count the number of visitors and not the box office.

However, this is true. In terms of population base and film market, it can also be proved that "The Secret That Cannot Be Tellable" has been regarded as a "classic" in South Korea.

But even more exaggerated is Japan.

If "Transformers" is a hit all over the world, then it must seem a little acclimatized after landing in Japan.

After it was released in Japan on August 4, for more than half a month, he only earned 1.2 billion yen at the box office.

In conversion...it's more than 97 million yuan, less than 100 million yuan.

According to the Japanese, what we want to see is Gundam, not Transformers.

"The Untold Secret", which was also released in Japan on August 10, earned 930 million yen a week after its release. It successfully squeezed out the Japanese film "Journey to the West" and won the second place at the box office this week.

The first place is Pokémon's "Pokémon: Battle at the Tower of Space and Time".

Like South Korea, because of its history as a colony, the buildings on both sides and the layout of some cities look very "Japanese". Therefore, Japanese audiences can easily be attracted to this movie. found resonance.

Besides... maybe Jay Chou and Xu Xin themselves didn't expect...

Their movie is surprisingly consistent with the "high school culture" phenomenon that has been almost prevalent in Japanese culture for decades and is still going on.

High school boys and girls, young and ignorant love, elegant Western piano, a slightly magical tone of the movie, and that...at first glance, I really thought it was a beautiful style created by a Japanese director.

It immediately captured the hearts of the Japanese audience.

It has become a must-see movie for young men and women in love throughout the summer vacation!

Moreover, not to mention Jay Chou, Gui Lunmei, and Yang Mi appeared at the premiere wearing JK style.

Tianchao fans in Japan went crazy!

Jay Chou's image perfectly fits the image of a special high school student with a bit of a bad streak in Japanese high school culture.

Gui Lunmei's temperament is just like that of an artistic girl in the class.

And Yang Mi is like the energetic and popular student union president.

There was even a nickname that came up called "Qing Yi Ou Jiu".

At first, Yang Mi was quite confused. She didn’t understand why others shouted “Oujiao” when they saw her.

Later, after asking for a translator, I realized that the so-called "Oujiu" is an honorific title for "eldest lady"...

In the old piano room, the image of wearing a fringed white shirt and a single ponytail playing the piano...

It fits their image of an elegant young lady so well... that even the whole country knows about it.

Inexplicably, Yang Mi got the nickname "Miss".

It makes people laugh and cry.

Anyway...

As "Secrets That Cannot Be Told" has been released in several Asian countries one after another, just like the craze caused in China, this movie brings a particularly comfortable feeling in the hot summer, as well as the song with the same name as the movie The theme song, even the piano part in the film...all the elements have been labeled as "hot" and "classic".

This prompted movie fans to wave their movie tickets and rush towards the cinema.

And whether it's super high ratings or super high box office, it also shows one thing.

This movie, directed by new director Xu Xin and starring Jay Chou, Gui Lunmei, and Yang Mi... has become an unforgettable memory for many people during the hot summer vacation in 2007.

Then, August 26th.

Episode 35 of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

The grown-up Guo Xiang appeared for the first time. When the audience was in anticipation, they finally saw Guo Xiang, played by Yang Mi, chatting with a group of Beggar Clan disciples...

After looking at that beautiful girl who is slightly immature but more lively and charming than "Miss Qingyi"...

"The Legend of the Condor Heroes" has the highest ratings so far: 9.17%, and it was born.

While the media was still exaggerating and celebrating the birth of the first film in the third quarter with a ratings of over 9, the box office of "The Untold Secret" had already exceeded 186 million. At the same time, it was facing the critical moment of the end of its production. On the side of Jay Chou of "Slam Dunk", Jewell released a message through the official website at the end of August.

On September 5th, which is the tail end of the perfect ending of "The Secret That Cannot Be Telln", Jay Chou's new album named "I'm Very Busy" will be released worldwide...

Listed simultaneously!

And, starting from November 10th, the 2007 world tour will begin, with a total of 42 concerts!

Then, the "Chou Niang" crew project announced that it would officially start filming in Dalian on September 7, with Yang Mi starring.

As soon as he said it, everyone was shocked!

But it's not over yet.

At this juncture, even CCTV came to join in the fun.

TV series broadcast schedule for the third quarter of 2007: December 29, 2007, Saturday, CCTV 8. "Wulin Gaiden".

Starring: Yan Ni, Yang Mi, Sha Yi, Yao Chen, Jiang Chao, Yu Entai!

Late August, early September.

The summer vacation is over and the new semester is beginning.

Netizens looked at this information with some numbness.

What catches the eye are Jay Chou and Yang Mi.