1990My Entertainment System

Chapter 18: million box office!

On the evening of March 3, Xia Tian received a transatlantic call from his "partner" Pierrot in the United States - the movie "Home Alone" that he had spent more than 4 days to shoot was taken off the screen in North America.

After 31 days of release, the film went from having only a hundred or so screens at the beginning to becoming a dark horse in an unpopular time slot, sweeping across the United States and heating up the unpopular time slot.

In the end, the box office of "Home Alone" was 1 million US dollars!

Converted into RMB, it is 500 million!
It was also thanks to a series of actions by myself, especially Michael, if he hadn't promoted me many times in his concerts, and even invited me to sing backing vocals, I would have become a big hit in the American pop music scene. This achievement would have been impossible!
The rock songs by Linkin Park, Imagine Dragons, and Nightwish that I sang are still on the Billboard charts!
We don’t know yet how the Sony album sales are going, but I guess they’re pretty good.

This is because of all the publicity, which is why this film has such a publicity effect.

(Originally, it was produced by 20th Century Fox itself and pushed the domestic box office in the United States to $2.85 million, ranking first in the year!)
The next day, Xia Tian told this to Pants, who came over every day to check the box office news.

My pants were torn apart and my facial features were distorted.
"How many?"

He jumped up from the chair with his mouth opened so wide that you could see not only his back teeth but also his tongue!
"Five hundred million?!"

He looks like he wants to eat people! His eyeballs are bulging out!

Many years later, he mentioned the shock of this incident in a TV interview: "When I heard this number, my soul flew away! My mind went blank. I couldn't imagine how many zeros there were in 500 million!"

After more than ten seconds, he seemed to have come back to life, with an extremely exaggerated expression: "Hey! Brother Tian'er! No! Master Xia! With such a skill, you will be an international director in the future! You can go anywhere in China!"

Xia Tian quickly stopped him. Why was Feng Kuazi so exaggerated recently? He was flattering the horse so much that he almost made it swollen. How terrible!

Xia Tian had no idea that since Pants' daughter was born before the Asian Games, he had no money for cleft lip surgery and had to rely on Xia Tian and Milan for help. That was when Pants "woke up"!

He wants to climb up step by step to become a great director! He wants to be Feng Gao!

The news won’t reach the country for a while, so Xia Tian has to figure out how to hide.

Once this news gets out, I will have no peace for another month or two!
You're so busy with all the meetings, sharing sessions, and invitations that you simply can't handle it all. Your only option is to hide!

However, the box office revenue of over 100 million is only in the United States, and "Home Alone" will also be released in other countries.

However, there are no international channels in the summer, so the bulk of the revenue will definitely go to 20th Century Fox.

But aren't we being controlled by others? There's nothing we can do.

Although he and Pierluigi Collier opened a film company in the United States, at present they can only play a supporting role and do some creative work.

In the end, they will be able to achieve something in the United States, and will not be bitten too badly by entertainment giants due to publicity, distribution, theaters, etc.

As for overseas distribution, it may even challenge the status of the Big Six Hollywood films.

Xia Tian hadn't even considered it—given their nature, they were capable of anything. Who would care about the law then? Wouldn't they just tear it apart and eat it?

It’s okay to make a small profit, and at most become a top independent film company in Hollywood, and that’s the limit.

But this time there’s also a videotape of “Home Alone”!

The profit is not small, and the bulk of it goes to "Shenlong Pictures" - Xia Tian's film and television company in the United States.

Before the film was finished, Xia Tian had already asked little Palo to work hard on this aspect.

The profit here might be as good as the profit from box office share!

……

The next day, a group of gentlemen from the Seahorse Creative Center planned to get together.

As a result, as soon as Xia Tian walked in, a group of people started to make noises, "Tian Er, you are too ambitious!"

"One hundred million US dollars at the box office!"

"Five hundred million RMB!"

This time, even the dialect, which always thinks highly of itself, looks up at Xia Tian!

Thumbs up: "You're awesome! Even if we go to America, we'll still be like this!"

A group of people gathered around and made a lot of noise. Xia Tian could hear Feng Kuazi screaming not far away: "Brother Tian'er is awesome~" He even shouted until his voice broke!

Damn it, they knew you had rotten teeth and couldn't keep your mouth shut. Just so you know, they all knew it!

But Xia Tian didn't think much about it. After all, he had thought about it when he told him.

Even if we don't tell them, someone in the country will definitely get the news within a few weeks.

This time, "Home Alone" was a huge hit in North America, which really shocked those self-proclaimed artistic old men.

Of course, these people had long since given up the desire to compete with Xia Tian. After all, he had accomplished so many big things in the past ten years.

If any of these things happened to someone else, it would be enough for them to walk around with their heads held high for eight or ten years.

As a result, he did one thing after another. Comparing with him is just asking for trouble!
However, no one expected that Brother Tianer, not only did you have a smooth trip in China, but we also applauded you for showing off in Hong Kong. How could you be so awesome in the United States?

That's America?!
How many movies do they release in a year that gross over 100 million yuan?
Last year, the tenth-highest grossing film in the US was $90 million. Does that mean that just because Tian Er wrote, directed, and filmed a movie in the US, he could have easily made it into the top ten?!
Wang Defu~
……

After much persuasion from Xia Tian, ​​the group finally started talking about the main topic after they finished their meal.

——The place for dinner was a private room in the Sihai Hotel, a restaurant co-opened by Xia Tian and He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu's technical investment holds 20% of the shares, mainly because they have a good relationship over the years, and Xia Tian just wants to have a convenient place to eat.

Usually, when Xiaoxu and her friends don't feel like cooking, they just call Sihai Restaurant and they'll have it delivered to their door. Xia Tian: Damn, they flatter me and then make me sign the bill! Are they planning to eat me for free?! These bastards~
It was not until the group started talking about serious matters that Xia Tian knew what the gathering was for.

It's about a new work.

CCTV is becoming more and more open now. I want a new TV series, preferably a longer one, and a comedy is even better.

This group of people had been thinking about it for some time, and now that Xia Tian was back, they thought of discussing it together again and getting his meal at the same time.

I heard Fang Yan, Feng Kuazi, Liu Zhenyun, Wang Ruohai and a group of people talking at the same time.

"Comedy, after all, is all about making fun of people."

“But who to make fun of is the question?”

Pants quickly said, "That's right! Although society is gradually opening up, it's not open enough to just make fun of people."

Workers, peasants, soldiers, and working people are definitely not allowed to do that. Everyone has this awareness.

But who else can I fool?

Anyone who becomes a laughing stock on TV probably wouldn't be very happy.

Xia Tian laughed: "Well, you've all heard of crosstalk, right? Who do crosstalk performers make fun of? Besides making fun of themselves, they also make fun of their peers."

"Everyone at this table is either a writer or an editor. Stop making fun of them and start making fun of yourself!"

"Let's make a story about the editorial department, a situation comedy, with a few scenes, a few fixed characters, and people who can join and leave at any time. With short stories as units, everyone can write a few words, and that's it!"

Zheng Xiaolong, the director of the TV Drama Production Center and the oldest member, nodded repeatedly upon hearing this: "Yeah! That's a good idea!"

A group of editors and writers writing stories about the editorial department will never make mistakes.

"But what is a sitcom?" Some people don't know.

Yes, there is no such form in China yet.

Xia Tian gave a simple explanation, "It's a variation of a stage play or drama. It's already very mature overseas and has a low budget..."

After the explanation, the topic was decided and the rest was easy.

Even though it's a comedy, we can't just laugh silly, right?
These days everyone is pursuing something core, especially the dozen or so people present here. There are several well-known writers, and the rest are either editors or film and television practitioners.

If you ask them to make it too popular, they will be embarrassed.

These days, the only person who writes purely popular literature in the country and is far ahead of others is Xia Tian.

His ancient detective novels "Detective Di Renjie" and "The Inspector General of the Song Dynasty", martial arts novels "Kunlun" and "Zhu Xian", and spy novel "The Lurk"... can be said to be the best-selling novels in China!
Others who write popular works are either not up to par or those who can write are not as good as him, not to mention their fame.

Even if they are at the same level, can the effect be the same when a newbie opens a book and when a platinum master opens a book?

Now, if I say a book title in the summer, a group of editors will call my house that afternoon to ask for publication. Some of those who live nearby are even coming to my house!
Suddenly, Wang Ruohai, who was not far away, whispered to Xia Tian, ​​"Tian'er, I heard that you have another novel to be published?"

The "Plainclothes Police" he wrote a few years ago was very popular, and Xia Tian also starred in the TV series adapted from it.

Because of this, when Xia Tian was not around, Wang Ruohai was basically the invisible leader of this group of people - one of the main reasons was that when Xia Tian was not around, they would eat at Wang Ruohai's expense.

He is now the general manager of a state-owned hotel, which is very convenient.
He has extensive connections in the Yenching publishing circle and may have heard something.

Xia Tian smiled and said, "Yes, I wrote it on the plane after returning from the United States. It's a novella, I guess."

Xia Tian had been deliberately keeping his distance from him for the past two years. After Milan's reminders in the past two years, he had also noticed that Wang Ruohai seemed to have a wide range of sexual preferences! It was a bit scary.
At this time, Ma Dudu, a short man with small eyes, also came over. He actually knew more than Wang Ruohai, after all, he was an editor.

But he is a cunning man. He will not talk about this matter until Xia Tian mentions it himself, for fear of causing resentment.

Now that Wang Ruohai has said it, let’s talk about it.

Ma Dudu: "I heard that several screenwriters were about to fight over a sneak peek~"

A few people were talking about the inspiration they got at an American airport in the summer and the novella they wrote on the plane.

Originally these few people were the center of the group. As soon as they started talking, a group of people gradually gathered around them.

Xia Tian talked about his novels, "A Yanjing Native in New York" and "Big Scatter"!
One is the story of those who went to the United States, and the other is the story of those who sent others to the United States and stayed in China.
Xia Tian told them the content of his novel and also shared his experiences in the United States, comparing the two.

"If you love him, take him to New York, for it is heaven; if you hate him, take him to New York, for it is hell."

Fangyan slammed his hand on the table and said, "Holy crap! This sentence is so well written! It's the essence!"

Everyone thinks this novel is good, especially the one that discusses the hottest phenomenon of going abroad!

"Meat buns hit foreign dogs~"

"New York is both heaven and hell~"

It’s so refreshing!
Zheng Xiaolong on the side was even more interested and very excited!
He asked, "Tian'er, have you ever thought about making this novel into a film or TV series?"

Xia Tian shook his head and said, "I haven't thought about it."

Hearing this, Zheng Xiaolong suddenly became excited, "I want to take a picture!"

I won't go into details about the subsequent discussions on whether to adapt the story into a film or TV series. The dozen or so writers have each taken on their own tasks and plan to go back and write a few stories for Zheng Xiaolong to read. Everyone went back to their own homes.
(End of this chapter)