Millennium director

The movie "Good Guys, Bad Guys, and Weird Guys" itself doesn't really have much to say.

With Wu Yuan's suggestions for revising the script, the script Zhang Guorong received was very similar to the Korean version, except that the characters were changed from a few Korean horse bandits who had left their hometown in the Northeast to authentic Chinese people.

The story of Who Called the Korean Version itself took place in the land of Northeast China. Wu Yuan could use it directly without any modifications, which was very convenient.

The entire movie is based on the story and character style of "The Good, the Bad, and the Bad".

The story is a typical commercial film model. The highlight of the film is a train robbery, which effectively creates a thrilling opening.

Then the normal plot begins. Huang Bo plays the weird guy Maziliu who is a habitual thief. He is interested in a Manchu treasure map that a group of Japanese officers on the train grabbed and wants to steal it.

As a result, he happened to run into the cold-blooded killer "Bad Guy" Lao Dongbei (played by Xu Jinjiang) who also came to intercept this group of Japanese officers.

The two happened to be in trouble when they attacked a Japanese train. Not only did they have to get rid of the Japanese army, but they also had to deal with Lao Dongbei's men.

Amidst the hail of bullets, a mysterious man suddenly joined the battle and rescued Maziliu with his superb marksmanship and fled the scene. The man who rescued Maziliu was Zhang Magui, a good guy who robbed the rich and helped the poor in Manchuria and made trouble for the little devils ( Played by Liu Ye)

However, although Maziliu was rescued by Zhang Ma, his plan to steal the treasure map also failed, and Lao Northeast, who received money from a local wealthy family to intercept and kill Japanese officers, also failed.

Under the mediation of Zhang Magui, Maziliu, who did not know each other at first, decided to cooperate with Lao Dongbeixu and Wei She, and secretly stole the treasure map while Lao Dongbei was intercepting and killing the Japanese officers.

The fierce gun battle on the train was just the beginning, and a strange and cunning "anti-Japanese" cooperation began.

Three Northeast horse bandits with different personalities and different goals embarked on a series of hilarious and exciting battles of wits and courage around a treasure map and a group of Japanese officers.

In the end, this group of Japanese officers were killed by a combination of good guys, bad guys, and weird guys, but the treasure map was fake, and there was no Manchu treasure at all.

In the final ending, the three horse bandits, who have gone through a series of cooperation, from intrigues and calculations to becoming friends, rode against the sunset, laughed and left the empty treasure cave, starting their new journey.

The movie ends here.

Zhang Guorong cleverly left an introduction, and he could decide whether to continue making a sequel based on the film's box office performance and reputation.

After all, in the chaotic Northeast of the 1930s and 1940s, there were so many stories about horse bandits and bearded men that could be adapted and filmed.

It is not impossible to create China's own Western movie series.

At least, when the opening credits came on after the premiere, there was a lot of applause and cheers from the viewing audience, which gave Zhang Guorong confidence.

"Thank you, thank you for your applause!"

Zhang Guorong took the microphone and stood in front of the screen again with a smile on his face, "Is this movie good?"

"This is my first time making a purely commercial film, and I don't know if it will turn out well."

"But seeing that everyone still has smiles on their faces after watching the movie, this movie shouldn't be too bad!"

This is the first commercial film with an investment of RMB 80 million. It would be a lie to say that Zhang Guorong is not nervous.

Being a director is different from being an actor. Even if an actor makes a movie that doesn't get good reviews and doesn't do well at the box office, he's not the first to take the blame.

Screenwriters, directors, and even investors are the ones who are really under pressure and have to bear the blame for box office failure.

But now that he himself is the director and one of the screenwriters of this movie, the pressure on him is immediately different.

Fortunately, the immediate feedback from the site was very good.

Perhaps the guests were in a relationship and would give face-saving applause, but the smile on the face of the film critic sitting in the back was probably sincere.

"It's very good to watch. There haven't been movies of this type in China before."

"Is this a Western? A story full of irony and humor about a group of lawless horse bandits, and the conflict between primitive violence and kindness?"

"The action scenes are very smooth, especially the fight on the train. It has the feel of a Cheng Long movie. It is both enjoyable and funny!"

"Maziliu's performance as the thief is so exquisite. He is cowardly but still cowardly, but he always pretends to be brave. It's so funny!"

Zhang Guorong randomly selected a few lucky fans to express their opinions on the movie, and most of them were complimentary.

Among them, the most mentioned one is Mazi Liu played by Huang Bo. Who knows that this character is the funny person in this movie, and almost all the laughs revolve around him.

In 2007, although the domestic Internet has developed very rapidly, most young people actually don't know much about foreign movies, let alone Western movies, which have already declined in Hollywood.

Zhang Guorong cleverly adapted the Western film style into a local film, which undoubtedly brought a dazzling effect to most audiences.

Just like the novelty when "Heroes" came out, the story structure of "Good Guys, Bad Guys, and Weird Guys" and the wild, lawless, lawless and typical western style in the movie, whoever has the big fist is the most powerful. The style of the film is also very enjoyable.

Why have American western films been so popular in European and American film circles for a long time, and even led Italian film companies to produce this type of work?

Isn’t it because in a modern society with sound rule of law and high moral requirements, many people have nowhere to vent their stress in work and life.

At this time, it is wild and unrestrained, describing a world where there are no legal restrictions or bureaucratic restrictions, where grudges are very satisfying, and there are duels at every turn. It is simply too cool and suitable for fantasy.

The core of European and American western films is actually the same as Chinese martial arts novels and movies.

What is being constructed is a fantasy world of grudges, traveling alone, drawing swords to help when encountering injustice, and fighting and fighting at every turn.

Whether it is the martial arts world or the Western world, the official forces in it are basically invisible at all times, and there are only a group of unscrupulous knights and cowboys who use force to violate the law.

There is essentially no difference between knights and cowboys, except that one uses a sword to solve problems, and the other uses a revolver.

Just after changing the cultural background, everything became novel again.

The only difference is that Chinese "martial arts" are more difficult to understand, have higher philosophical meanings, and more advanced literary expressions. Hollywood cannot understand it, and it is impossible to adapt it locally into European and American movies.

The background of Hollywood westerns can easily be adapted locally by Chinese people. There are too many similar eras in Chinese history.

For example, what Zhang Guorong was looking for was the period when horse bandits and beards were constantly hanging out after the fall of the three eastern provinces. Isn't it a proper western background?

Even the Koreans can't compare to this.

Zhang Guorong, who has made many martial arts movies and was inspired by Jin Yong's martial arts novels, understands the chivalrous spirit in Chinese culture very well.

He easily blended the spirit of chivalry and cowboy culture to create "Good Guys, Bad Guys, and Weird Guys".

The process of the battle of wits and courage between the three protagonists and the Japanese officers was a chivalrous act to eliminate harm for the people. In the end, the three protagonists faced the sunset and set off again, which was also meaningful and reminded people of many classic martial arts. The hero in the novel.

People who don't understand Chinese martial arts culture can watch this movie as a Chinese western, but those who understand Chinese martial arts culture will see more intriguing things, and they will be even more amazed when they taste it carefully!

Wu Yuan, who was sitting in the first row and applauding with a smile, looked at Zhang Guorong with admiration.

After several years of training in three films, Zhang Guorong, an already talented new director, has finally grown into an excellent director.

The trajectory of his life has also been completely changed.

Wu Yuan believes that this "Good Guys, Bad Guys, Weird Guys" has only just begun.

After the premiere of "Good Guys, Bad Guys, Weird Guys", reviews of the film's premiere appeared on Sohu, Groom, Penguin and other portals that night.

Overall, most critics gave the film favorable reviews after watching it.

Of course, as a commercial film and Zhang Guorong's first commercial film, there are also some criticisms that the rhythm is not tight enough, not hearty enough, too funny, too little violent, and not American western enough.

From a viewer's perspective, this movie does have some flaws.

But even for commercial films made by Feng Xiaogang, it is impossible for mainland film critics to hear only good things about them.

There are only two commercial films produced by two directors in China. Domestic film critics dare not criticize before the box office results are released, and they only dare to say good things.

One of these two people is named Zhang Yimou and the other is named Wu Yuan.

The former is a ground-breaking figure in mainland commercial blockbusters, half of the founder.

The latter is a top-notch director of Hollywood commercial films. Mainland film critics have no qualifications and dare not criticize before the results are released.

Zhang Guorong will definitely not be able to enjoy this treatment. As long as there are only a few critical voices, he will be very satisfied.

As for the movie fans who were watching, after seeing that most of the film critics and the lucky viewers who attended the premiere said on the Internet that the movie was very interesting and novel, they also had the idea of ​​going to the cinema to watch the movie. .

In recent years, going to the movies has become more and more popular. Although the price of movie tickets has risen instead of falling, ordinary people's pockets have become increasingly bulging.

In the first decade of the 21st century, China's economic development was rapid.

In 2000, China's GDP was only 10.03 trillion yuan. Seven years later, China's GDP had risen to 27 trillion yuan in 2007, more than doubling.

The number of movie theaters across the country has increased three to five times.

With both money and enough cinemas, mainlanders’ desire to watch movies is certainly getting higher every year.

Coincidentally, after the domestic cinemas were fully liberalized for privatization, major private theater chains also kept pace with the times and began to pre-sell movie tickets in advance.

It’s not that movie ticket pre-sales started after the emergence of online ticket purchasing platforms.

In fact, many movie theaters are now able to purchase movie screenings one week in advance.

The domestic release date of "Good Guys, Bad Guys and Weird Guys" is August 18.

After the premiere on August 15, word of mouth spread, and many young movie fans, as well as fans who like Zhang Guorong, went to the cinema as the first batch of fans to support the movie and bought movie tickets on the day of the release.

Although this ticket is refundable before the official screening, except for a very small number of viewers who have something to do unexpectedly, most of the fans who bought tickets in advance are staunch fans and will basically not refund their tickets.

Light and Shadow Times also contacted major theaters immediately and calculated the pre-sale box office.

"five million!"

"We sold five million at the pre-sale box office alone!"

"Most of them bought movie tickets for the 18th, and a few bought them for the 19th and 20th!"

"If you include the audience on the day of release, the box office of "Good Guys, Bad Guys, and Weird Guys" on the first day is expected to exceed 10 million!"

Li Xiaoping reported to Wu Yuan with a slightly excited tone that as the most important film in this year's light and film era and the highest investment, everyone in the company has high hopes for "Good Guys, Bad Guys and Weird Guys".

And Zhang Guorong did live up to this expectation!

"The box office was 10 million on the first day. This is a good or bad result, I guess it's average." Wu Yuan's reaction after hearing this was very dull.

"Painted Skin", which was released two years ago, had a box office of 18 million on its first day, "The Promise" even more so, 21 million, and "The Golden Armor" directly grossed 28 million.

The predicted box office performance of "Good Guys, Bad Guys, and Weird Guys" is still not that impressive.

"The first-day box office is actually not important. The first-day box office of "The Promise" is so high, but the final result is not as good as "Painted Skin"."

Wu Yuan said unhurriedly: "It still depends on the audience's word-of-mouth after watching the movie after the first day of large-scale release. Only if the word-of-mouth is good can the subsequent box office be stable and reach a higher level."

"Have you negotiated with the publishers in South Korea?"

Compared with the mainland box office, he is actually more concerned about the distribution and screening situation in South Korea.

After all, the movie "In a Dream" with the same theme was watched by 7 million people in South Korea, with a box office of about 300 to 400 million yuan.

Even if the local film becomes an imported film this time, it will still be fine if it can have a box office of 100 or 200 million!

Otherwise, relying solely on the domestic market and the appeal of Zhang Guorong + Liu Ye, it would be a bit difficult to recoup the 80 million investment in a sub-top blockbuster.

It's just a pity that "Good Guys, Bad Guys, and Weird Guys" is not suitable for release in Japan.

Japan is currently the largest ticket warehouse in Asia, and it is easy for a blockbuster movie to sell for more than 1 billion yuan at the box office.

Who said the theme of this movie is "fighting the devils"?

"In South Korea, SHOWBOX has agreed to introduce it. Zhang Guorong is still very well-known in South Korea. Many Koreans over 30 years old know him."

"SHOWBOX guarantees that more than 60% of Korean theaters will schedule this movie, but the specific release date needs to be scheduled until early September, and there is no way to release it simultaneously with the domestic release."

"However, SHOWBOX has given a lot of publicity. They like the movie very much and have great confidence in Zhang Guorong. After all, he also plays a role in the movie."

"It seems that I made the right decision by letting Leslie star in the film." Wu Yuan said with a smile.

Zhang Guorong is now directing and acting. In the eyes of his Korean fans, this is probably the kind of sensational effect that the star suddenly announced that he would appear in his new film, which caused a sensation among mainland audiences.

Not to mention that Korean fans would cry and shout that they "owe Zhang Guorong a movie ticket" and rush into the cinema to book the theater.

(Most Korean movie fans also watched Zhang Guorong’s films such as “A Better Tomorrow” and “A Chinese Ghost Story” by renting videotapes and did not go to the cinema.)

At least because of Zhang Guorong's reputation as a director and actor, he has to support this Asian superstar who accompanied him in his youth, right?

Don’t worry about South Korea’s box office, it will definitely perform strongly!

Wu Yuan smiled and said quite proudly: "Zhang Guorong can handle the Korean market, and I can handle the Japanese market."

"In the age of light and shadow, we are here, so why worry about the Asian market?"