Chapter 400: Living Under the Shadow of that Man for the Rest of My Life

The Lunar New Year holiday season at the end of 2013 officially kicked off at the end of November.

The first to be released was "Drug War" directed by Benny Chan and starring the three middle-aged Hong Kong movie kings Gu, Liu, and Zhang.

This movie was later called a ghostly masterpiece, and the famous scenes of Zha Zha Hui were talked about by countless people.

However, when this movie was first released, the reputation and box office were not as high as expected.

The overall story structure was okay. The actors performed well, but the ending was a bit lame.

The three main actors were inexplicably invincible in the end, possessed by Superman, and killed all the bad guys, but they did not win all the victories. They were almost completely wiped out and "just happened" to die together with the bad guys, which seemed a bit bloody and old-fashioned.

This kind of plot where the protagonist and the bad guys die in the final battle, or only one or two characters are left, is okay once or twice, but it becomes boring if it happens too much.

But many Hong Kong directors like to shoot like this, but they often don't have a sense of fate like Johnnie To's, but instead have a lingering deliberateness.

However, director Chen Musheng is not without his own advantages. He is very good at shooting gunfights and racing scenes, focusing on sensory stimulation, and the brotherhood is also well portrayed. The action scenes at the end are very explosive. If you don't pick on the plot loopholes, this movie is still worth watching.

It is rumored that the production cost of this movie is 100 million Hong Kong dollars, and the box office in the mainland is about 200 to 250 million, and 30 to 50 million in Hong Kong. There are some overseas box office for action movies, which are not much different from Hong Kong.

It is definitely not worth losing money, but the profit is not as high as imagined.

But for Hong Kong movies now, especially movies with a strong Hong Kong flavor, it is a good project if it can make money.

So there are series of movies such as "Ip Man", "Overheard", and "Anti-Corruption Storm", digging deep into projects that have already had successful experience.

"Drug War" may not be qualified now. When it becomes popular in the future, someone will immediately restart this IP, regardless of whether it is related to the plot, and first get the heat.

In any case, the first week box office of "Drug War" was 80 million, which is indeed a bad start for this year's Lunar New Year file.

Fortunately, no one was too discouraged, because from the beginning to the end, "Drug War" was a pioneer. Although many people were optimistic about it becoming a dark horse, they did not expect it to be the leader.

The real fierce battle of the Lunar New Year period was in early December, when three movies were released one after another.

"No Man's Land" directed by Ning Hao and starring Xu Zheng and Huang Bo.

"Storm", a Hong Kong crime film starring Liu Tianwang, Yao Dazui, Lin Jiadong, Wu Jun and others.

And "Four Famous Detectives 2" starring Deng Chao, Liu Tianxian, Na Zha, and Wu Moubo.

These three movies are not easy to deal with, and the performance lineup and gimmicks are worth mentioning.

"No Man's Land" has the most gimmicks. It is the work of the genius director Ning Hao. Just the fact that it has been reviewed for many years is enough for many people to think about it.

After "Lost in Thailand" and "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons", Xu Zheng and Huang Bo have become well-known first-line stars in the film industry, with good box office appeal, not to mention that they are also known as the iron triangle.

If it weren't for the theme of "No Man's Land", this movie would have a chance to participate in the peak battle of this Lunar New Year file.

However, the theme and plot are more literary and artistic, which discouraged many viewers who came for Xu and Huang's comedy. In addition, there are various loopholes and auditing problems, which are much worse than the first-tier movies. It can only wait and see if it can become the biggest dark horse.

As for "Four Famous Detectives 2", to be honest, because of the foundation of the previous work, the box office will not be too bad, but the base number is estimated to be not too high.

However, there is a variable now that "Running Man" is broadcast in advance, and the popularity of the male protagonist Deng Chao has soared.

And because this movie also has the participation of Blue Whale, the crew got a chance to participate in "Running Man".

"Running Man" got the gimmick of Liu Tianxian's first participation in a reality show, attracting a large number of Tianxian fans and passers-by fans. And "Four Famous Detectives 2" also got the exposure and publicity of the phenomenal variety show.

With the bonus of "Running Man", no one knows how far "Four Famous Detectives 2" can go, but it will never be worse than the first one.

In comparison, "Storm" has the least gimmicks, only King Liu can show it off, and Yao Dazui, who is quite popular on Weibo, is also a promotional selling point.

But they have a biggest disadvantage, which is that it was released at the same time as "Time Travel Together", with only one day between the two.

Yao Dazui, a Weibo master, has many advantages against other crews, but when he meets Wei Yang and Fan Xiaopang, the two Weibo kings, he is completely defeated and suppressed on Weibo.

Even for "Time Travel Together", it never took "Storm" seriously from beginning to end.

The biggest opponents in the eyes of Wei Yang and even the crew are Feng Kuzi's "Private Customization" and Cheng Long's "New Police Story 2013".

…

Beijing, backstage of a promotional event

Feng Kuazi got the news and couldn't help cursing: "This guy really thinks he is the king of Shanghai, and dares to cut off our roadshow."

The second in command of Huayi next to him shook his head: "It's not him, this kind of thing is too offensive, and if he cuts off ours in Shanghai, we can counterattack in Beijing, hurting others and not benefiting ourselves."

"Who did it then?"

"I guess they are more optimistic about "Time Travel Cohabitation", the local theaters in Shanghai are spontaneous, or the distributors are operating."

Wang Erdangjia has many flaws, but as a senior producer, he has participated in the production and distribution of many film and television projects, and has a good record, so he is naturally not an incompetent person.

In the face of emergencies, he was not as emotional as Feng Pants, who vented his anger indiscriminately. Instead, he analyzed the specific situation relatively calmly.

Feng Pants has great box office appeal in the Chinese film industry and is even known as the king of Lunar New Year movies. He is also the director with the highest cumulative Chinese New Year box office so far.

But he is not without his disadvantages, that is, his film style is more northern-oriented.

It is more popular in the north, but the radiation in the south is not that high, especially in Zhejiang and Shanghai, and it is not particularly famous.

If there are no direct competitors, then it's okay. After all, it is a masterpiece by a famous director, and the resources of all parties will not be lacking.

But there is a local story in the Magic City, whose reputation is not much worse than Feng's, and he has quite a lot of connections in the Magic City, so he naturally gives priority to his "own movies".

In the same way, the road show promotion of "Cohabitation in Time and Space" in Beijing is definitely not as popular as "Private Customization".

This is a normal operation, but Feng Pengtong is used to being domineering. If someone doesn't give him face, he will immediately get angry and curse.

"Forget it, the Magic City is not our big vote base anyway. It is the last word to stabilize the north."

The rise of Blue Whale has been very strong in the past two years, and the combined forces and connections are not bad. Huayi cannot suppress it, so its attitude has also changed. If necessary, Wang Er does not want to have a head-on conflict with Wei Yang.

"Then I'll let this kid ride on my head?"

Feng Pengtong was quite dissatisfied. He and Wei Yang didn't have any big grudges, but they had a little old grudge.

That is last year's "囧囧" beat "1942". Feng's trousers caused a lot of complaints and aroused a lot of public opinion. Wei Yang was neither soft nor hard.

At that time, Wei Yang was not very specific, but he could still be contacted.

The most important thing is that Feng Trousers boasts that he has good qualifications, and only a few people in the entire Chinese film industry are in his eyes. However, he was disgraced by a young man in his twenties, and naturally he felt unhappy.

This time it was also a bit of a borrowing, and I wanted to give Wei Yang some color and make him feel bad.

Wei Yang's strength and status is here, and he is a well-known rich man on the list. In terms of actual net worth, he even surpasses the two kings of Huayi.

But most people in the entertainment industry are afraid of Wei Yang, but Feng Pants is not afraid of him.

Although Wei Yang's net worth is high, a large part of it comes from valuation, which is somewhat fictitious. His biggest reliance is on funds and the power of Blue Whale's Shanghai circle.

Feng Tongtong, with his back to Beijing, wanted to film a movie with a large group of people supporting him and giving him money. He also had connections and a team, so Wei Yang had nothing to do with him.

So while others were trying to save Boss Wei's face, Feng Pengtang was not afraid of him. Instead, he was ready to come to Boda because of a small grudge.

"What are you talking about? Who can take advantage of you, Director Feng? It's just a misunderstanding. I'll just call him later and have a discussion."

Feng Pengtong wanted to have a relationship with Wei Yang, but Hua Yi didn't want to quarrel with him, so Master Wang Er tried to stop him.

It's not that Huayi is afraid, it's not necessary. As mentioned before, Blue Whale is no longer a small company that they can suppress at will.

With the size of two companies, if a war breaks out, they will kill a thousand enemies and suffer 800 losses to themselves. If not, they will both suffer losses and allow other companies to benefit.

Everyone goes out to do business to make money, not to fight with others. It is impossible for Huayi to go to war with a large company with a promising future just to give Feng Pants a fight.

Of course, Huayi is still counting money on Feng's pants, so he has to coax him when he needs to.

Leader Wang Er also thought about whether he could discuss it with Wei Yang, and then everyone would come up with a solution to fool face.

The two of them were scolding and coaxing each other, and the other main creators of "Private Customization" were also nearby, listening with trepidation.

Except for Uncle Ge, who just heard something was wrong with the tone of the conversation, so he wore headphones and played with his mobile phone and pretended to be dead.

Needless to say, he has a good relationship with Feng Pengteng. He has been an old friend for decades, and he also has a good relationship with Wei Yang. It was a pleasure to work together on "Famous".

At this time, no matter how he spoke to him, it was inappropriate, so he simply pretended to be deaf and dumb, pretending that he didn't know.

Just pretend to be confused, he is a master!

Others don't have the capital and confidence he does. The director and boss are beside you. You are playing with your mobile phone with headphones on, and you don't want to mess around anymore. You can only listen honestly, with different thoughts.

Regardless of Feng Peng's cursing and scolding, Wang Er also scolded him a few words when trying to persuade him. Any normal person would be able to tell that the two of them regarded Wei Yang as someone of the same level.

Or in the minds of some people, comparing the two people to Wei Yang is a bit of a forced comparison.

No matter how fictitious Wei Yang's net worth is, he still has real assets of several billion. The valuation of the Blue Whale he holds is firmly at the forefront in the industry, not to mention that he started from scratch. He is a big boss in the Shanghai circle under the age of thirty.

No matter how awesome Feng Pants is, he may not be afraid of Wei Yang, but after all, he is just a film director, and many people think that the two of them are on a different level.

Wang Er, the head of the family, is a well-known entertainment capital, but there is an older brother above him, and his age and potential are far behind Wei Yang.

At least in the hearts of Sister-in-law Lu and Bai Baihe, Wei Yang definitely has the upper hand.

Even Sister-in-law Lu, who had met Wei Yang several times before, felt quite regretful.

She knew from the beginning that Wei Yang was a super diamond stock, but she didn't expect him to be so awesome.

Their circle has always been around Boss Jia of LeTV, and from today's point of view, Wei Yang is not inferior to Boss Jia, and in terms of comprehensive quality + future potential, he is even better than Boss Jia.

Unfortunately, at that time, she was proud of her status. After sending a message to Wei Yang and being rejected, she chose to give up. If she had been more determined, she would have won him over.

Now, it is not only the fifth sister Gan Wei who sits in the C position in the circle, but also her share.

But it is too late to regret now. She is already a mother. No matter how confident Sister Lu is, she dare not dream of joining such a wealthy family as a second-married single mother.

However, the one who has the most complicated feelings is Zheng Kai next to him.

This little prince of advertising at the Shanghai Theatre Academy was the first to know Wei Yang, and he was also one of the few people who had conflicts with Wei Yang in the early days.

In fact, until now, Wei Yang has long stopped taking those little things to heart, and he has almost forgotten Zheng Kai.

But Wei Yang forgot him, but Zheng Kai has always remembered him.

The conflict between the two was not a big deal. At most, they never interacted with each other in school.

At that time, Wei Yang was busy filming and writing his own plays, and Zheng Kai was in the late stage of college. Filming was not going well, so he focused on advertising, and they kept to themselves.

But with Wei Yang's rapid rise and even his promotion to capital, Zheng Kai's life became difficult.

To be honest, Wei Yang at that time had not grown to the point of banning Zheng Kai, nor did he deliberately retaliate, and he was not so petty.

But it must be pointed out that Zheng Kai at that time was just an unknown junior with extremely low risk resistance.

As a newcomer who had just graduated, Zheng Kai could not get any film and television dramas. This was a normal professional phenomenon, but he couldn't help but feel guilty and always complained to Wei Yang, thinking that the other party was making trouble.

And many people in Shanghai Theatre Academy knew about the conflict between the two, so he was not the only one who thought too much.

The circle was so small, and there were many people who had connections with Shanghai Theatre Academy, and soon the bottom was revealed.

So, Zheng Kai had a harder time. As a newcomer, he had few chips to begin with, and now he had offended someone. People either tried to please Wei Yang or didn't want to cause trouble, so he could get fewer and fewer dramas and even advertising sources.

Wei Yang was not unaware of the rumor, but he might not take the initiative to retaliate, but he was too lazy to help his enemy.

Not adding fuel to the flames is the greatest kindness. He just explained it to a few close people, and it doesn't matter whether others believe it or not.

As Wei Yang's influence in Shanghai grew, Zheng Kai couldn't make it anymore, so he went to Beijing. He was lucky and soon got a chance to show his face and successfully signed a contract with Huayi.

After years of hard work, he finally got the biggest resource so far, starring in Feng Kuzi's movie "Private Customization".

Zheng Kai was once very proud and even thought about going back to Wei Yang one day and telling him that he was back.

However, today's cold reality told him that not only him, but also Feng Kuzi, whom he looked up to, was actually far from Wei Yang.

He might have to live under the shadow of that man all his life...