At the end of October, the daily box office of "Road to Glory" still remained at around 3 extra-long screening of this art film, which lasted for two months, has opened up a new screening path for art films.
On the last day of October, "Road to Glory" officially announced that in order to celebrate the film's nomination for the Feihong Award, it will increase the number of movie screenings from November 11rd to November 3th, adding 11 screenings per day, and at the same time opened a pre-sale channel.
This time, every film company in the industry is watching the film carefully to see how it performs at the box office in these three days.
If "Path of Glory" can still achieve good box office performance after two months of screening (including two large-scale previews during the holidays), it will truly be enshrined in film distribution and become a milestone - although even in the hearts of many people, the first two months alone are enough to make it a masterpiece.
On November 11, the video of Peng Zhixing interviewing Shang Yongzhou and Lu Yanhe was broadcast.
The content of the two interviews was not the same.
However, a hot search term called "Why do they both have a temperament that regards awards as dirt?" topped the list, causing many netizens who were unaware of the situation to click on it curiously, and then they saw a screenshot taken by a netizen.
The screenshots contain interviews between Lu Yanhe and Shang Yongzhou.
Peng Zhixing asked both of them about their opinions on whether they could win the Feihong Award.
In fact, both of them answered this question very sincerely.
There is no need to repeat what Lu Yanhe said. Shang Yongzhou said: "It has been a long time since I was nominated for the Feihong Award. In fact, I have won the Feihong Award twice. The possibility of winning this time is very low. I don't think anyone has won it three times."
After Shang Yongzhou said these words, Peng Zhixing's face showed a smile that said "Why should I ask this question?"
The reason why the hot search term "Why do both of them have a temperament that regards awards as dirt" has become a popular search term is because when they answered this question, they were so relaxed, which was very different from the feeling when the other nominees answered this question.
A netizen said this jokingly.
Who knew that this sentence would become popular for no apparent reason.
Of course, in the eyes of many people, this is not inexplicable. On the Internet today, a phenomenon has gradually emerged in which everyone advocates a sense of "casualness", especially the sense of "not caring so much" about things that others care about.
In this era, utilitarianism has been given an unprecedented positive name. It no longer appears as a negative word. Everyone can openly admit their utilitarianism and even take some not-so-bright means to get what they want.
Support for the dark side of human nature is at an all-time high on the Internet today.
This is because everyone has discovered that they, who come from grassroots backgrounds, cannot live as upright and bright as the protagonists in the novel.
At the same time, another phenomenon is that people who live very hard are more envious of those who "live less hard". Now everyone has a word to describe it, called relaxation.
Because I don’t have it, I envy and yearn for it.
After seeing the interpretation about him under this hot search term, Lu Yanhe did not silently acknowledge this statement, but posted a Weibo: Don’t spread rumors, I don’t treat awards as dirt, I really want to win an award, I have acted in so many dramas, and I have been nominated a lot, but I haven’t won many awards. You can’t expect me to be indifferent to fame and fortune at such a young age and live a carefree life, right?
When netizens saw Lu Yanhe’s Weibo post, they were surprised for a moment, and then they burst into laughter in disbelief.
A netizen left a message in Lu Yanhe's comment section: God Lu, could you please maintain your divinity and stop coming down to earth all the time? I'm not used to being so down-to-earth.
Lu Yanhe replied: You calling me Lu Shen, I am not used to it either [grimaces].
On November 11, "Road to Glory" was screened in 3 theaters.
The pre-sale exceeded 200 million, and the estimated daily box office is 620 million.
The industry is watching to see whether this number can be achieved.
However, it is clear that everyone, including box office forecasting agencies, underestimated the market's enthusiasm for "Path of Glory".
Even though the film had been previewed for two months, and even though November 11rd was a Friday, a weekday, as of 3 ., the daily box office had exceeded 620 million, far exceeding expectations.
At this moment, the industry was shocked once again.
Because "Road to Glory" really did it.
Using awards to stimulate box office sales — is this a new idea for art films?
The Feihong Award also quickly claimed this achievement.
why?
These three words come to mind for everyone in the industry.
Why can "Road to Glory" create such a box office miracle?
No matter how you analyze it, it's all just talk.
There is no precedent for this.
We can only ask the audience who walked into the cinema today why they chose to watch this movie.
The box office statistics agency arranged for someone to do this.
They counted nearly three thousand samples, and the feedback they got was that they had all heard that "Road to Glory" was a well-made, award-winning film co-starring Lu Yanhe and Shang Yongzhou. They had wanted to see it for a long time, but the theaters where it was shown in advance were either too far away or tickets were scarce. Today they finally had a chance to buy tickets at a nearby theater, so they went to see it.
The analysis results of the box office statistics agency show that 67% of the audience used to not like to go to the cinema to watch art films.
They usually don't pay attention to art films, but this time they came to watch "Road to Glory". Some of them saw some discussions and viewing experiences about this movie in their circle of friends from time to time, which made them interested in this movie. Some of them knew that this movie won many awards, so they wanted to see what was so good about it.
The industry summarized this analysis result as follows: the battle line was drawn out long enough, so the film was slowly made known to many people, and then slowly planted the seed of "I should watch this movie if I have the chance" in some people's hearts.
After a movie has been released for two months, even if it is only screened on a large scale for most of the time, its fan effect has already dropped to the lowest level.
The audiences who are still willing to go to the cinema at this time must be attracted by other factors.
At this time, the promotion of "Road to Glory" was basically no longer focused on Lu Yanhe and Shang Yongzhou.
Because basically everyone who knows this movie knows that these two are the leading actors.
The focus of publicity at this time was on the achievements of the film itself, as well as the discussion of "Do you think "Glory Road" can win something at this year's Feihong Awards?"
This kind of discussion will drive the discussants to go to the cinema.
If you want to discuss this, you have to watch the movie first, right?
Almost all of the films nominated this year were box office hits, and they were released on video platforms one after another after they were taken off the screen. The number of viewers was completely different from that of "Road to Glory".
The number of nominations for "Glory Road" is almost the same as theirs.
In short, watching "Paths of Glory" has become an "electronic social" behavior. If you want to participate in online interaction, you have to first see what the movie is like.
Probably because of these reasons, on November 11rd, "Road to Glory" finally earned 3 million at the box office, and the daily box office once again exceeded 1097 million.
How big an impact will this number have on the industry?
Another art film nominated for the Feihong Award, "Happy Time," announced late at night that it will be re-screened nationwide on November 11.
"Nine Yins" and "You Who Came From the River", which were just released in the summer, have also announced that they will be re-screened in November.
Everyone wants to take advantage of the momentum of the Feihong Awards to see if they can replicate the miracle of "Road to Glory".
The next day, Saturday, the box office of "Road to Glory" remained unchanged and maintained at 1090 million.
On Sunday, "Happy Days" was urgently re-released nationwide, with more screenings than "Paths of Glory".
"Road to Glory" has limited the number of movie screenings to only 2000.
As for "Happy Time", any theater can schedule it as long as it is willing to do so.
Ning Xiu Lian and Yu Qin flew to six cinemas to meet with everyone and conduct a roadshow.
"Happy Days" earned 420 million yuan in box office on Sunday, while "Road to Glory" declined, earning just over 800 million yuan in daily box office, still surpassing "Happy Days".
On Monday, "Path of Glory" once again reduced the number of movie screenings and returned to normal levels.
"Happy Days" did not shrink, and its box office fell directly to just over 100 million on Monday.
For an art film with a cost of only hundreds of thousands of dollars, the box office results that "Happy Time" had previously achieved had already made it a huge profit.
This temporary re-screening earned 520 million in box office in just two days, which also surprised and stunned the industry.
Is it true that this route of combining awards with screenings actually works?
November itself is also a low season for the film market.
Most blockbuster movies are not released in this month.
It is also for this reason that although "Happy Days" had a daily box office of just over one million, it was still able to obtain about 8% of the screenings.
Obviously, in the eyes of theater managers, as the Feihong Awards approach, there is more and more discussion about the nominated films, and "Happy Days" can still reap good box office.
-
While the film market was in turmoil due to the films nominated for the Feihong Awards, the film shot by Li Zhibai and Liu Bige was finally completed.
Liu Bige said: "It's finished, congratulations."
Li Zhibai was holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand, which was given to him by the crew.
"Director, we're finally done filming. What are you going to do next?" Li Zhibai looked very excited, without the tiredness that most actors have when they finish shooting a play.
Liu Bige said: "Have a good sleep first, and then think about the rest after you have rested enough."
Li Zhibai said, "I'm planning to go to Southeast Asia. Do you want to come with me? Relax a little."
Liu Bige looked at Li Zhibai in surprise.
Li Zhibai was unaware of the difference and asked, "Don't you have time?"
Liu Bige said: "It's not that I don't have time, but...how come you have so much energy? You've just finished killing Qing, and you have the energy to go out and play?"
"I'm not going out to play, I'm going on vacation." Li Zhibai said, "It's too cold here, let's find a warm place to stay."
Liu Bige said: "I have to prepare for my third movie, edit the film, and help Lu Yanhe with the filming of Love Letter—"
"That's all a month or two away. You should take a good rest while you have time now. You still have so many things to do. How can you not take a good rest?" Li Zhibai said, "I haven't heard what you have planned for a long time. Then come with me. I will make the plan and you just follow me."
Liu Bige stared, wanting to say something, but looking at Li Zhibai who looked as if it was a matter of course, he didn't say anything for a long time.
The whole process of making this movie with Li Zhibai was filled with an inexplicable sense of ease.
Because as long as Li Zhibai is on the set, there will definitely be no lack of "movement".
It's not to say that wherever Li Zhibai is, there will be chaos, but it will definitely not be peaceful.
Li Zhibai is not a person who can stay alone quietly.
However, such a noisy person is not annoying.
The character he played in the movie was not a cool and quiet one.
Therefore, everyone tacitly tolerated and cooperated with his noise - in the eyes of many people, Li Zhibai's behavior was to find the state for his acting.
Even Liu Bigo thought so at first.
Of course not.
Liu Bige soon discovered that Li Zhibai himself had such a personality.
One night before, they finished work early, so they went to see "Happy Days" which was in theaters at the time.
As a result, in less than twenty minutes, Li Zhibai fell asleep with his head tilted back.
He really doesn't pretend at all.
After watching the movie, Liu Bige said to him when he came out of the theater, "Don't you like watching this kind of movie?"
Li Zhibai yawned honestly and said, "I don't like to watch it. I feel sleepy."
Liu Bige has met many actors who expressed their yearning for art films in front of him, but he is the first one like Li Zhibai who frankly said that he "doesn't like to watch them".
Liu Bigo didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? We could have watched another movie."
"Then I would like to give it a try, just in case this movie is my cup of tea and I can keep watching it." Li Zhibai said, "But so far, I haven't come across many movies that I like."
Liu Bige nodded.
At this moment, he was thinking that it was a good thing that he was not shooting an art film this time, but a romantic comedy, otherwise, Li Zhibai might not be able to understand the script.
Although Liu Bige's first film was "Late Spring", he is not the kind of director who prioritizes art films above all else.
He never wanted to be an art film director, he wanted to be an author-type director with his own style.
Whether it is an art film or a commercial film, people can tell at a glance that, well, this is a movie directed by Liu Bige.
In fact, meeting an actor like Li Zhibai and filming a romantic comedy like "I Can't Even Fake My Death" can be regarded as meeting an exceptionally suitable and brilliant actor.
The only pity is that Ji Miao, who plays the neurotic girl, is a little lacking in quality.
People have tried hard and taken it seriously, but when it comes to acting, if it’s not suitable, it’s not suitable.
After finally finishing the arduous filming, Liu Bige decided to edit the film from Li Zhibai's first perspective.
After the filming was completed, Li Zhibai said goodbye to everyone in the crew and returned to Ziyuan Bridge.
He asked in the group: Who of you is at home?
Lu Yanhe replied immediately: Me.
Li Zhibai: I finished filming today. I'll arrive in the evening and have some skewers. Lu Yanhe: Okay, shall we eat directly in the restaurant or takeout?
Li Zhibai: Let’s eat in the restaurant.
Lu Yanhe: OK.
Yan Liang: Alas, I’m still filming…
Lu Yanhe: When will you finish filming?
Yan Liang: It will take about another month.
Lu Yanhe: Are there so many scenes in “The Mountain Top”?
Yan Liang: It was very difficult to shoot. This time, director Shen Mofan didn’t even attend the Feihong Awards ceremony, so the shooting schedule was very stressful.
Lu Yanhe: Come on.
Li Zhibai: Can you take a break for a while after filming "The Mountain Top"?
Yan Liang: That’s about it. I didn’t take any other roles after that, and Zhou Ping’an didn’t give me any new scripts.
Li Zhibai: Don’t sit at home waiting for him to send you a script. His mind is on Ma Zhiyuan. You have to look for a suitable script yourself.
Yan Liang: Let’s talk about it after I finish filming “The Mountain Top”. Now all my energy is focused on this drama. It is so difficult to act. Every night when I lie in bed, I feel empty.
Li Zhibai: Why is "The Mountain" so difficult to act in? Is it because the amount of scenes to be shot every day is huge?
Yan Liang: No, it was just difficult to act. Director Shen had high requirements. I basically had to shoot every scene three or four times, even for the official filming. I was very nervous. Maybe it was because I had never acted in a drama that required such high acting skills. The filming environment of "Gold Rush" was just difficult and harsh, while "Mountain Peak" really required high acting skills. Anyway, I basically only thought about acting every day, and I had no energy to think about other things.
Lu Yanhe: Come on.
Li Zhibai: Hold on until the filming is finished, then have a good rest.
Yan Liang: Yeah.
-
Lu Yanhe put down his phone and thought for a while.
To be fair, Yan Liang’s talent in acting is indeed not that outstanding.
If he plays some regular characters of his age, or in life-style dramas like "Friends", there is no problem for him to play Yan Liang. However, a drama like "Top of the Mountain" that focuses on fraud, where people deceive each other, attack and defend, play within play, fraud within fraud... maybe the requirements for Yan Liang are a bit high.
Will Yan Liang pursue a career as a drama actor in the future?
If he continues on this path, he may not know when he will be able to reach a higher position.
It’s not that those non-talented actors can’t act like this, but that takes a long time of accumulation, and they can only act like this when they are almost in their forties.
Of course, Yan Liang is very lucky. The TV series "Friends" made him famous, and this series has visibly become a guarantee for him over the years.
However, Lu Yanhe also doesn't want Yan Liang to end up like the leading actors in the original "Friends". Apart from "Friends", he has almost no other representative works. Except for Jennifer Aniston, the other actors are almost trapped in the drama "Friends" and can never get out of it.
In fact, Yan Liang's image and style are very different from the other two. Because he is the only one among them who insists on working out, he has a very muscular body, the kind that you can't tell when he's wearing clothes, but once he takes off his clothes, you'll be amazed.
He looks a bit like an actor Lu Yanhe knows, Eddie Peng.
Lu Yanhe thought about it seriously.
In addition to the drama "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" which will be filmed next year, I also have to write a play for Yan Liang.
Let him be seen in action scenes as soon as possible.
-
"You want to write an action scene for Yan Liang?"
At the barbecue stall, Li Zhibai looked at Lu Yanhe in surprise. He only had time to take a bite of the grilled fish in his hand.
Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "Don't you think Yan Liang's image is actually quite suitable for action scenes?"
Li Zhibai said: "It is suitable, but he doesn't know real kung fu."
"You don't need real kung fu to shoot action scenes, it's enough to make the fighting look good." Lu Yanhe said, "I have also acted in action scenes."
Although it was only played briefly in "Phoenix Tower".
Li Zhibai said: "That's fine, but why did you suddenly think of writing an action scene for Yan Liang?"
"I have actually thought of many stories like this a long time ago, but I can't act it out, and neither can you. So I have to ask Yan Liang to act it out."
“Why can’t I act?”
"Look in the mirror."
Li Zhibai cursed "Fuck".
Lu Yanhe smiled.
Li Zhibai said, "I actually have one more thing to ask you. My drama has been finished and it has come to a temporary end. I am going to start working on 19 Years of Crime Records, but as soon as I thought about starting it, I started to get nervous."
Lu Yanhe asked: "Are you ready to start?!"
He was very surprised.
Li Zhibai nodded.
"Tell me, can I do it well?" Li Zhibai was worried.
Lu Yanhe: "To be honest, you have never had the experience of doing a film or TV project yourself, so it's normal that you can't do it well. However, you have the innate conditions to do it well, and your advantages are too great. If you do a project yourself, you won't have to worry about not finding investment, nor will you have to worry about not having a platform to broadcast it. Moreover, you have teacher Liu Jiazhen to help you check the script. Moreover, you are Li Zhibai, and you can find people no matter what type of talent you need. Everyone will be willing to believe that your project can be successful."
Li Zhibai’s biggest advantage is that he is a popular star.
In the entertainment industry, if a popular star wants to make a movie himself, everyone will help him.
This is the current situation.
Li Zhibai took a deep breath.
"Okay, now that you've said that, I won't complain any more." Li Zhibai said, "Then you and Yan Liang can help me be producers."
Lu Yanhe said, "I can do it, but I will be filming Love Letter next month, so I may not have time to help you."
Li Zhibai said: "I don't really want you to do anything for the crew. The crew needs people of various trades. I need you to help me check and make judgments."
"Of course these are no problem."
Li Zhibai said: "Alas, I still feel guilty now. I started messing around without knowing anything."
"The most important thing you need to do now is to find a reliable producer you can trust to help you do this," Lu Yanhe reminded.
-
November 11th, Feihong Award Ceremony.
Lu Yanhe arrived at the scene wearing a black suit.
Chen Ziyan was personally by his side.
In such crucial occasions, Chen Ziyan would usually stay by his side.
Everyone Lu Yanhe met along the way praised him - not for his nomination for Best Actor, but for the distribution strategy of "Road to Glory".
Now, the most legendary event about Lu Yanhe is the box office miracle of "Road to Glory".
This is not only the box office result of the combined appeal of Lu Yanhe and Shang Yongzhou, but also the result of a brand-new distribution strategy proposed by Lu Yanhe.
Because of the success of Paths of Glory, seven films nominated for the Phenom Awards will be re-screened in theaters tomorrow.
At this time, some people who had participated in the "Road to Glory" seminar suddenly remembered a sentence Lu Yanhe mentioned at that meeting:
Awards and box office should not be separated, awards can stimulate box office.
In addition to this matter, there is another thing that everyone is very concerned about, which is what kind of Hollywood movie Lu Yanhe took on.
Even Chen Bige was curious and asked him when they met.
Lu Yanhe briefly talked about the movie "The Mist".
Chen Bige was a little surprised after hearing this. "It's actually a horror movie? You really shocked me. Why did you suddenly take on a horror movie?"
"Because it can't be filmed in China." Lu Yanhe said with a smile, "The director took the initiative to find me, showed me the script, and invited me to act. He was very sincere. He also made two successful horror films. I think this is an opportunity I can try."
Chen Bige asked: "Who is the director?"
"Mucken Sorge."
"Ah? Him." Chen Bige showed a look of sudden realization, "His wife is Chinese."
Lu Yanhe was surprised. "Ah? Really?"
"Don't you know?" Chen Bige was also surprised.
"I don't know." Lu Yanhe shook his head, "I only met him once."
Chen Bige: "Well, there are quite a lot of Hollywood directors who discriminate against Chinese people. You know, there is a kind of argument in the United States that promotes the China threat theory. He is one of the few Hollywood directors who openly approach Chinese people."
Lu Yanhe suddenly realized.
“I didn’t pay attention to this aspect before.”
Chen Bige said: "If you go to Hollywood to film, you have to be careful. There are many people who discriminate against Chinese people and will deliberately put obstacles in your way."
Lu Yanhe nodded, "I will be prepared. If someone dares to bully me, I will not just stand there and let them bully me."
Chen Bige smiled.
"Although I had guessed that you would definitely go abroad to film, I didn't expect you to go so soon."
Lu Yanhe: "Let's take a picture when there's a suitable opportunity."
Chen Bige nodded.
"By the way, there is one more thing I want to tell you. You gave me two scripts before, one is 'Rouge' and the other is 'Raise the Red Lantern'. I plan to start 'Raise the Red Lantern' after I finish filming 'Love Letter'," she said.
Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "Okay."
Chen Bige asked: "You can take back this script and do it yourself, as long as you let me play the role."
"You do it, Sister Bi Ge. I don't have the energy. You did a great job on Rouge."
Although the copyright of the movie "Rouge" still remains in the hands of Lu Yanhe, and Lu Yanhe is also credited as the producer, it was actually Chen Bige who pushed the project from inception to release.
After Chen Bige had the experience of "Rouge", Lu Yanhe believed that she could do a better job in "Raise the Red Lantern".
And, to be honest, the filming difficulty of "Raise the Red Lantern" was not as great as that of "Rouge".
It is a film that tests a director's inner strength, and the requirements for shooting difficulty are relatively low.
When Lu Yanhe watched "Raise the Red Lantern" for the first time, he had a very intuitive feeling that this movie was like a neat Chinese painting, with extremely neat structure and pictures, as well as the actors' performances.
Of course, the most notable feature of this film is that it uses an extremely strong structural picture, based on a solid text, to give a penetrating description of a person's "alienation".
Chen Bi Ge is in the right place at the right time for this movie. Her image and acting skills are a perfect match for this movie.
In a few years, she might not be convincing enough to play a college graduate again.
The biggest difference between this movie and "Rouge" is that this is a purely women's play.
In "Rouge", there is the Twelfth Young Master played by Huang Kairen. In "Raise the Red Lantern", this master is just a silhouette with no real face.
Lu Yanhe felt that he had copied the script, but if he really wanted to make a women's play, it would be more appropriate for a woman to do it.
He is not Lao Mouzi.
-
"Yan He, let me introduce you to the director of 'Nine Yins', Ning Zhiyuan, and the lead actor, Zhou Yuning."
Mrs. Huang from Longyan Film Company came over with two people and greeted Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe looked at the two people in front of him with some surprise.
"Hello, Director Ning, and Teacher Zhou." Lu Yanhe immediately extended his hand enthusiastically, shook hands with them one by one, and said, "I am Lu Yanhe, and I finally have the opportunity to meet you. I like the movie "Nine Yins" very much. I haven't seen a martial arts movie that makes my blood boil for a long time."
Ning Zhiyuan: "Then I hope I can have the opportunity to work with you on a martial arts film in the future."
Lu Yanhe nodded immediately, "Okay, I really want to try it too. I've never filmed a martial arts film before."
He looked at Zhou Yuning and asked, "Teacher Zhou, this is also your first time acting in a martial arts film, right?"
Zhou Yuning is 35 years old this year. He became famous with the movie "Nine Yins" and has made great achievements.
He smiled and waved his hands, saying, "I've taken this before, a long time ago."
Lu Yanhe suddenly realized, "Actually, I really want to know, did you go to Jiangnan to look for Liu Suyin in the end? The ending of the movie is too open-ended."
Zhou Yuning looked at Ning Zhiyuan with a smile and said, "You'll have to ask the director."
Ning Zhiyuan said: "This is the second part of the story."
Lu Yanhe opened his eyes wide in surprise and asked, "Will there be a second part of "Nine Yins"?"
"Well, I'm writing the script." Ning Zhiyuan said, "I wrote this ending to leave room for the second part."
Lu Yanhe: "When the second part premieres, can you give me an invitation? I want to see this movie first."
"That's more than welcome."
-
Six thousand words guaranteed, with two thousand words added later.
Ask for monthly ticket～(End of this chapter)
