noveldepot Chapter 59 Confident Cinema Operators
Chapter 59 Confident Cinema Operators
August 7th, Thursday, is the Qixi Festival (Chinese Valentine's Day).
Gu Qingshan drove to the China Film Group building and went directly to Han Sanping's office.
"Chairman Han!"
"Director Gu is here!" Han Sanping smiled when he saw Gu Qingshan.
Han Sanping got up and made tea.
After exchanging pleasantries, the question was asked, "Director Gu, when do you plan to release 'Lost in Thailand'? During the Lunar New Year holiday?"
顾青山看了眼墙上的电影定档，今年贺岁档可谓是拥挤得很，陈凯哥的《梅兰芳》定档12月4日，冯晓刚的《非诚勿扰》定档12月28日、叶韦信《叶问》定档12月12日、吴景的《狼牙》定档12月10日......
Looking ahead, Gu Qingshan saw that there was only one film, "Painted Skin," during the National Day holiday, and the others were not good enough.
It's better to schedule this for the National Day holiday than for the Lunar New Year holiday, since the earlier the movie is released, the sooner it will make money.
"Chairman Han, schedule it for the National Day holiday, on September 26th for nationwide release!" Gu Qingshan said with a smile.
Han Sanping was somewhat surprised. "Are you going to schedule it for the National Day holiday? Not the Lunar New Year holiday?"
"My new film is about to start shooting. I'll see if I can schedule it for release in December or before the Spring Festival," Gu Qingshan said with a faint smile.
Han Sanping smiled wryly. Gu Qingshan was such a fast shooter; his movie-making speed was frightening.
While others are considered highly productive by making one or two movies a year or two, Gu Qingshan can easily make one movie in a month.
Han Sanping said, "Okay, we'll do it your way. I'll gather people from other cinemas to watch the film together tomorrow and arrange the screening schedule."
"Director Gu, are you interested in making a period epic?" Han Sanping asked.
Wu Yusen's filming of "Red Cliff" was a real disappointment to Han Sanping.
He never expected that a renowned international director would make such a film.
"Red Cliff Part I" grossed over 200 million yuan in two weeks, but as word of mouth collapsed, its box office plummeted. Now, almost a month after its release, it has not even reached 300 million yuan.
In the past three weeks, the total box office revenue has not even reached 100 million yuan.
It's worth noting that the investment in "Red Cliff" was much larger than that in "Lost in Thailand," and the publicity costs were also significantly higher, with China Film Group investing far more resources.
Han Sanping went to great lengths to greet them.
However, Red Cliff performed far worse than Lost on Journey.
According to internal analysis at China Film Group, "Red Cliff" has gone from being profitable to barely breaking even overall.
This made Han Sanping lose interest in the so-called big directors from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
It was Gu Qingshan who piqued Han Sanping's interest.
Gu Qingshan smiled wryly and said, "Chairman Han, period epics are too difficult to make, involving too many things. With my current abilities, I'm afraid I'm not up to the task. Besides, I'm not interested in period epics, so I'm afraid I won't be able to make one well."
Gu Qingshan is genuinely not interested in period dramas.
It's not easy to make a good film, and the investment is often very large, making it increasingly difficult to recoup costs by relying solely on domestic production.
Without an overseas market, the chances of it failing are very high.
Even if Gu Qingshan had a simulation space, he wouldn't want to film a period drama.
After all, he's not very interested in projects that don't make money.
"If Chairman Han has confidence in me, we can discuss a big project after the next movie is finished," Gu Qingshan said.
Han Sanping became interested: "A big project? Can you tell me about it now?"
"It's not fully formed yet, Chairman Han will know in a while," Gu Qingshan said.
......
The next morning, in the China Film Group's main conference room.
Heads of major cinema chains gathered together.
"Director Gu, your new movie is finally going to be released! That's great news!"
"If there were more Director Gus in China, we wouldn't have to worry about this."
"Sigh, movie theaters require such a large investment; if they lack good movies, they'll all lose money."
"If there were a few more movies like 'Love is Not Blind' or 'Lost in Thailand' every year, I could sleep more soundly at night."
Everyone greeted Gu Qingshan with smiles.
Everyone made a lot of money from films like "Nightclub", "Love is Not Blind", and "Lost in Thailand".
When a movie becomes a hit, everyone can always get a share of the profits.
Despite its high box office, "Red Cliff Part I" was only possible because almost all the screenings were given to it, leaving audiences with no other choice but to watch it.
However, this was not without its problems; they received a lot of criticism during this period.
"Thanks to everyone's great support, I will rely on your help even more in the future!" Gu Qingshan said modestly.
After exchanging pleasantries, everyone went to a screening room and the movie began.
At the beginning of the movie, everyone saw Xu Zheng wearing a white lab coat and looking like a researcher, which made everyone smile knowingly.
Following closely behind was Xu Zheng, who had a bald head, and everyone couldn't help but laugh.
The dialogue between Xu Lang and his wife sets the stage for the film's background. Then, when Gao Bo, played by Huang Bo, appears, the audience can't help but laugh even louder as Gao Bo clashes with Xu Lang.
When Wang Baoqiang's character Wang Bao and Xu Zheng's character Xu Lang meet on the plane, it immediately reminds everyone of the movie "Lost in Thailand," and their interaction makes everyone laugh non-stop.
In just ten minutes, everyone understood the situation.
In this line of work, everyone is an expert. Whether or not someone can buy a ticket, everyone can guess with a high degree of accuracy after just one look.
Sometimes, however, people have no choice but to speak against their conscience.
There is a real lack of good movies in the market.
Like "Lost in Thailand," "Lost on Journey" is a film full of joy, and you can't help but laugh every now and then.
Moreover, the quality of the film has improved, which is obvious to everyone.
Xu Zheng and Wang Baoqiang's acting skills have improved compared to "Lost in Thailand", and they also have better chemistry.
Huang Bo's addition created a very good chemistry between the three.
110 minutes passed by unnoticed amidst everyone's laughter.
"Director Gu, 'Lost in Thailand' is even better than the last one." Han Sanping said with a smile.
"Lost in Thailand" maintains Gu Qingshan's signature style, with a smooth plot and high-quality visuals, making it a very good comedy film.
Han Sanping had a clear idea in his mind: no matter what, the movie was guaranteed to break 100 million at the box office.
"It's really great. Director Gu's movies just make people happy," the head of Stellar Cinemas exclaimed. "Now we can give the movie more screenings and provide more popcorn and cola during its run."
With the box office of "Lost on Journey" reaching nearly 400 million yuan, the box office of "Lost in Thailand" is fully guaranteed.
"I think 'Lost in Thailand' has a chance to break 400 million."
"With 'Lost on Journey' grossing nearly 400 million yuan, I have even more confidence in 'Lost in Thailand.' 'Lost in Thailand' is clearly of higher quality and will bring more joy to everyone."
"By the time of National Day, there will be more than 6 more screens nationwide than in June, and they will all be modern screening rooms that can bring a better movie-watching experience to everyone. I am confident in the box office performance of 'Lost in Thailand'."
Everyone has shown great confidence in "Lost in Thailand" and has given it guaranteed screenings.
After finishing their business, Gu Qingshan personally hosted a dinner for everyone.