Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 165: The Sound of Wind Released

Li Qiutang has been working very hard since his debut three years ago, so he rarely participates in the advance recording of variety shows to promote his films. He really has no time, and the little free time he has is not enough for him to rest.

The same was true for "The Sound of Wind". He delegated these activities to actors who needed to show their faces and receive more exposure.

He just takes some simple interviews that can be recorded today and broadcast tomorrow.

However, because the shooting of "In Time" in Hengdian was reversed day and night, it caused considerable difficulties for the reporters who came to interview, and made the already exhausted Li Qiutang even more tired - she finished work at 6 o'clock in the morning, woke up at 10 o'clock to do the interview, and went back to sleep after the interview. Many times she had several interviews in a day, and she could not fall asleep again after getting up.

"The Whistleblower" achieved a good result of 1500 million on the first day. Although it is not as good as "Founding of a Republic", this number is also a reflection of its great sales.

"I hope that The Whisper of the Wind can give us filmmakers something to think about. Don't blame the subject matter for limitations. What kind of limitations can there be for subject matter? No one made science fiction films before, but Comet was made and it did well at the box office. No one made spy blockbusters before, but The Whisper of the Wind was made and it's selling well now.

"There are still many people who think that we don't have actors in the mainland who can support the box office. I think this is unreasonable. I have used mainland actors in several of my films. All nine main actors in "Famous" are from the mainland. I think our current film companies and investors are still too timid."

Yesterday, Zhou Xun and other actors went to Hong Kong for the premiere. Li Qiutang did not have high hopes for the performance of "The Whistleblower" in Hong Kong, saying bluntly: "Hong Kong audiences will not be interested in a story like "The Whistleblower", and I still centered the narrative around female characters, so they will not buy it."

After all, "The Sound of Wind" pioneered the spy war genre, so Li Qiutang will inevitably say a little more about genre innovation and investment.

"Our current investors have a bad habit. When they get a project, they first ask what to do if it fails. They always think about failure from the beginning, and rarely think about what they can provide for the industry and the audience in the process. Although the film industry can be industrialized, its products and its core are always innovation, challenges, and bets."

In fact, including "In Time", during the preparation stage, except for China Film, basically no one was willing to invest, as they all felt that science fiction blockbusters were too risky.

Wang Jing's "Future Police" and Liu Zhenwei's "Robot" are not very risky, right?

Regarding the good results of "The Whistleblower" in its opening week, Li Qiutang also said: "I expected it to be good, but I didn't expect it to be this good. It shouldn't be a problem to break 100 million in the first week."

1500 million on the first day and over million in the first week are a foregone conclusion, so Li Qiutang is too embarrassed to exaggerate.

"Let's leave the box office forecast to a few producers."

"The Whistleblower" is the last film that Li Qiutang collaborated on with Huayi. Discussions on the relationship between Li Qiutang, Huayi and Feng Xiaogang ran throughout the film's promotion period - it was not intentional hype, but it did become a good card in the publicity war for "The Whistleblower".

Li Qiutang is still very positive about the two-year collaboration with Huayi: "It was very pleasant." She won't talk about the unpleasant scenes during that time.

But he had nothing good to say about Feng Xiaogang: "I think the discussion about Huayi and the discussion about director Feng Xiaogang should be separated.

"When the matter has nothing to do with them, the National People's Congress can stand on the moral high ground and give objective and generous advice. But once the matter is related to them, it is difficult for people to be objective and fair. It's human nature, everyone is the same, don't you think?"

Li Qiutang still didn't say anything too harsh, but her meaning was clear enough. She basically acknowledged that his rapid rise in Huayi threatened Feng Xiaogang's status and resources, which forced him to end his cooperation with Huayi.

After sending the reporter away, the assistant handed over a cup of iced coffee and said, "Yifei gave it to me."

"She even remembered to buy me coffee." Li Qiutang took the coffee and complained.

The assistant smiled and said, "Speak less. You can't stop talking even if you have something to drink. Besides, there's no coffee left." Li Qiutang said less gossip, "Are there any more interviews later?"

The assistant looked at his schedule for today and said, "There will be interviews with TVB, Sohu, and two other media outlets later."

Li Qiutang took a sip of coffee and said, "Let's do the six sets first, and postpone the rest to tomorrow morning. We'll do it after we finish work. Take good care of the reporters, including feeding, foot washing, massage, and singing. You decide on the arrangements."

At this stage, most film producers do not do anything to maintain their reputation, so for many films, both praise and criticism are received on the first day of their release, and the critical voices tend to be more contagious.

The same thing happened after the release of "The Whistleblower", which received mostly praise, but also many criticisms.

Some fans pointed out that the logic of Wu Zhiguo and Gu Xiaomeng's method of transmitting information was not strict, especially Wu Zhiguo's transmission of information through changes in opera tunes seemed too childish - how could a person stay awake and sing out accurate information after being tortured?
And if Gu Xiaomeng passed the information by embroidering it in her underwear, there was a high possibility that it would be intercepted.

Li Qiutang didn't want to explain, but since the reporter from China Film Report asked this question, Li Qiutang took the opportunity to explain: "No method of transmitting intelligence is foolproof. Yes, Wu Zhiguo may not be able to sing the right tune, and the information in Gu Xiaomeng's clothes may be intercepted, but thinking back, why can't we let them succeed?"

As a director, Li Qiutang would naturally not admit this flaw.

"Some viewers complained that the torture scenes in the movie were too bloody. What does the director think?"

"The success of a cause must go through numerous difficulties and dangers. The display of torture is necessary. First, the enemy at that time was not stupid, but very powerful and cruel. This makes our victory more precious. Second, our soldiers are very strong and brave. If there are viewers who do not accept such a display, I can only apologize."

After chatting with the reporter for half an hour, Li Qiutang took the initiative to end the interview: "I still have to shoot a movie. Sorry."

The reporter also asked him, "Is In Time very busy?"

"In Hengdian, all the scenes were green screen. We had to deal with them quickly after filming. There wasn't much left. We went to Chongqing later."

The reporter from Channel 6 turned off the camera and visited the set of "In Time" with Li Qiutang.

Liu Yifei and Liu Ye are playing with two four-wheeled remote-controlled robot dogs.

Robot dog technology is not yet mature in China. Robot dogs are not yet able to act autonomously based on what the camera is shooting. The crew uses wireless remote-controlled robot dogs for filming, and the operator sits outside the camera to remotely control the filming.

This also includes robots, all of which are remote-controlled, and some of which are done with motion capture.

"Yours is more advanced than mine, let's exchange." Liu Yifei's robot dog couldn't beat Liu Ye's in the race, so she started to make excuses.

"Stop playing around, and get to work." Li Qiutang said with a smile. He threatened Liu Yifei and Liu Ye, "These two dogs cost more than half a million each. If they break, you two will have to pay for it. And dog racing? You're the one who came up with this idea."

"So stingy." Liu Yifei said.

Liu Ye also followed suit: "You're so stingy." He and Liu Yifei entered the set and prepared to start work.

(End of this chapter)