Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 73: Flowers inside the wall

On the afternoon of November 30th, in a rental house in Beijing, the winter sun shone into the narrow alley outside the window, the coal stove in the corner crackled, the light in the house was dim, and a desk lamp on the table glowed slightly yellow.

Ning Hao pushed the door open and walked in, holding the script of "Big Diamond" in his hand. The edges of the paper were wrinkled beyond recognition. He sat down on the tattered sofa, looking dejected.

Xing Aina came over with a cup of warm water, steam rising from it. She asked in a low voice, "What do the investors say?"

Ning Hao sighed, "They're willing to invest 500 million, but the conditions are too much for me to accept. I have no say in the entire crew. Either the leading actors are stuffed in, or it's like signing a contract to sell myself."

Xing Aina put down the cup, a look of heartache in her eyes, and sat down next to him: "It's okay, at worst you can just look for it again, there's always a chance, don't be discouraged."

Ning Hao rubbed his temples. "It's pointless to take a shot if you don't have a say. Even if you get the money, it's useless."

Xing Aina paused and suggested, "How about going out to relax? Junior Brother Wu Chen's film 'The Dark Side' is out right now. Let's go see it together. We've all read the script, and we wonder what the final film will look like."

Ning Hao smiled bitterly: "Okay."

The two men wrapped themselves in coats and pushed the door open, the cold wind outside the alley blowing coal dust in their faces.

The nearby cinema was not very big. There were neither too many nor too few people in the hall. The neon sign was flickering slightly, and a poster of "The Dark Side" was hung in the lobby.

When Ning Hao was buying the ticket, he heard a few passersby whispering:

"I think this movie writer is pretty cool."

"The director is amazing. Look at the images and metaphors!"

"What's the point of arguing? The director and screenwriter are the same person. Didn't you see the poster?"

The person who spoke also pointed to the font on a poster not far away.

Ning Hao was stunned, looked at Xing Aina, and walked into the screening room.

The screen goes dark.

What is commendable about "The Dark Side" is that in addition to the explosive plot, the male and female protagonists are both handsome men and beautiful women, especially the female protagonist, who is a top-notch beauty and looks really pleasing to the eye.

Ning Hao and Xing Aina's eyes met several times, and both of them saw the surprise in each other's eyes.

"It cost 400,000 yuan to make this film. I have to say it's really amazing. The cost must have been pushed to the limit." Xing Aina exclaimed.

"Well, I asked someone, and Wu Chen basically took care of everything at the theater by himself. He was working like crazy."

Ning Hao leaned back in his chair, feeling a little lost.

At the beginning, Wu Chen was still having dinner with him. Now, the other party has become famous with his first movie and is even going to film in Hollywood, while he is still struggling for millions of dollars in investment.

After thinking for a moment, Xing Aina suggested, "Why don't we try looking for Junior Brother Wu Chen? He knows a lot of people now, so maybe there's a chance."

Ning Hao remained silent.

At noon on December 1st, in the China Film Building, the telephones in the statistics department rang one after another, the wall clock ticked, and the winter sun outside the window cast a white glow on the tall buildings.

Gao Chengsheng stood in front of the table, and his employees were counting the box office on the phone, with numbers densely packed on the paper.

Nowadays, movie box office statistics are mainly done manually by theaters.

After selling movie tickets, the cinema will record the information of each ticket and summarize this data and report it to the higher-level management department at the end of each day.

Although a preliminary ticketing management system was already in place at this time, data processing and aggregation still relied on manual operations, which was relatively inefficient and the results could not be produced until noon.

At this moment, an employee hung up the phone and said excitedly, "Secretary Gao, the first day's box office is about 143 million. We have to wait until this afternoon for the exact number."

"enough!"

Gao Chengsheng's eyes showed a hint of joy, and he quickly walked towards Han Sanping's office, knocked on the door and entered.

"Boss Han, the first day box office for 'Dark Side' is out! 143 million!"

Han Sanping leaned back in the leather chair, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

Generally, the first-day box office can roughly predict the box office potential of a movie.

At present, the main box office revenue in China actually comes from the first ten days. Generally, pirated copies will appear on the ninth and tenth days. This is the case for small films like Wu Chen, which are not big hits.

Some popular films had pirated copies released before the first week was over, but Jackie Chan's films were the fastest, only taking three days.

"With a box office of 143 million, there should be a chance for it to reach 2000 million. Spread the word and generate some buzz." Han Sanping nodded with a smile. "By the way, don't forget to notify Wu Chen."

"Okay, Mr. Han!" The moment Gao Chengsheng left the office, he picked up his phone and sent a text message.

At UME International Cinemas, the theater lobby was packed with dozens of people. Wu Chen was promoting the film with his crew. The screening had already concluded. He was dressed in a black coat, holding a stack of signed posters, which he handed out to the audience. Zu Feng, Hu Jing, and Dong Xuan posed for photos with the audience, while Zhou Yang, smiling, distributed flyers.

After receiving it, the audience gradually left.

Wu Chen relaxed his shoulders. Leading a team in activities like this was actually not easy at all.

"Director Wu, have you finished counting the first day's box office?" Hu Jing couldn't help but ask.

There was anticipation in everyone's eyes.

Once a movie is released in theaters, the box office is a report card.

No matter how artistic a movie is, it will still care about this aspect.

Just then, the phone vibrated and Gao Chengsheng called.

"Speak of the devil, and he'll appear." Wu Chen chuckled softly and answered, "Brother Gao!"

"Brother, the first day box office is about 143 million."

Wu Chen's eyes lit up, and he turned to the crew and shouted, "143 million!"

Everyone was ecstatic for a moment.

"Director, it should be easy to break 10 million like this." Zhou Yang said excitedly.

"Not only that, last year's 'Cell Phone' had a first-day box office of around 250 million, and took home over 5000 million. Its explosive growth period will be in the next few days, so it should have a chance to make another push."

Zu Feng gave a detailed explanation to the few people.

The more popular science they learned, the more excited they became.

A box office of 2000 million may not be high, but for the people present, it is a huge gift package.

This result will solve many problems when I interview with the crew in the future.

"There's nothing going on this afternoon, so let's have dinner together tonight. Brother Gao said China Film Group will pay for it."

"Thank you, director!"

"."

The crowd laughed and the atmosphere was explosive.

In the afternoon, the afterglow of winter shines down, and the streets are tinged with warm yellow hues.

Feng Xiaogang and Wang Zhonglei sat opposite each other on the sofa, the ashtray on the coffee table was full of cigarette butts, the two men smoked silently, and the smoke curled up like clouds.

The assistant pushed the door open and whispered, "Director Feng, President Wang, China Film Group just announced that 'Dark Side' grossed 143 million yuan on its first day."

The two looked at each other, and there was a hint of surprise in their eyes.

Wang Zhonglei finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, it's only over a million on the first day, which will basically have no impact on 'A World Without Thieves'."

He was very nervous after hearing what Feng Xiaogang said a few days ago, fearing that something unexpected would happen. Now the dust has settled.

"Cell Phone" had a box office of over 200 million on the first day, so he didn't believe that "A World Without Thieves" could be less than 200 million on the first day.

“But the cost”

When Wang Zhonglei said this, envy flashed in his eyes.

Damn, 40, what a huge rate of return, and the risk is pitifully small. Of course, he knows that the success rate is also pitifully low, but now the movie is a success.

Feng Xiaogang puffed out his cigarette and asked, "What did the people who were sent to investigate the cinema say? Why did the audience go to see this movie?"

Upon hearing this, the assistant said slowly, "Some people said they thought the two female protagonists in the poster were quite alluring, but after watching the movie they found the plot to be quite good as well.

Some people went to see it because the best film in Sitges sold over 2000 million;

Another part of the reason is that they want to see if the so-called genius director is just hype from the media."

Feng Xiaogang and Wang Zhonglei couldn't help cursing in their hearts:
Damn, how can you have so many gimmicks in a low-budget movie!
That night, headlines about the box office of "The Dark Side" appeared in the movie section of some portal websites.

According to reports, the distributor of "The Dark Side," China Film Group, stated that the film's first-day box office figure of 143 million does not include overseas markets such as Hong Kong.

"The Dark Side" grossed 143 million yuan on its first day, surpassing the Lunar New Year box office with a budget of 40 yuan. Wu Chen is expected to become a multi-millionaire director!

(End of this chapter)