Chapter 26 Schedule
Chapter 26 Schedule
The box office revenue of a movie is closely related to the release date - the release date is like playing mahjong, how much you win depends not only on your skills, but also on which table you sit at.
Just like at this stage, there are only three periods: Lunar New Year period, summer period and National Day period…
Only during these three major periods will audiences go to the cinema to watch movies!
After signing the distribution contract with Guangxian, all that remains is to wait.
Zhang Chen took some time to cut out a few versions of the trailer, which would be needed for promotion.
He also cut a version of the behind-the-scenes footage, and when the time comes, it will be Guangguang's publicity, and Zhang Chen himself is not prepared to sit idle.
He plans to distribute the trailer of "Darkness" on forums of major universities.
This version of the trailer is still very attractive. The bloody handprints, the first appearance of the monster in the DV, the bloody mouth rushing towards it, the scene where Shara emerges from the blood pool and the shot of Juno wielding a mountaineering pick are all cut in. It makes people nervous just by watching it.
The cell phone rang. It was Zhang's father calling.
"Stinky boy, I heard from your uncle Li that the filming of the movie has been completed?"
"Well, it's already been filmed, and we're just waiting for it to be released."
"When it's released, I'll notify the people around me to go and watch it."
“It’s expected to be May 1st, but it hasn’t been finalized yet.”
In Longcheng Dayuan, after Zhang's father hung up the phone, he took out a piece of paper and started listing names on it.
Zhang's mother came over curiously and asked, "What are you writing?"
"I'm writing a list of people to notify. Our son's first movie is coming out, and I have to notify all relatives and friends to go and show their support. I can't control other places, but our Ohara box office must not be bad."
Zhang's father has already thought about it. Not only his relatives, but also his colleagues at work and the bosses he knows need to be mobilized. Not only them, but they also need to help mobilize the people around them.
Those coal bosses, who doesn't have dozens of people under you, all go to the cinema to watch a movie, otherwise don't blame me, Old Zhang, for not approving your permission.
Zhang's mother also ran over to make a list. Although she was just an ordinary worker, she had many colleagues and classmates among them. After all, it was for her son, so it was not shameful to ask for help.
Zhang Chen, who was far away in Beijing, didn't know that his parents were preparing to stir up a storm for him in his hometown. He was wondering why it had been so long and the Dragon Mark had not been applied for yet. Did something go wrong?
As expected, good things don't work, but bad things do. The next day, he received news that the film was rejected because some scenes were too bloody and violent.
Light was also in a hurry, preparing to release the film on May Day, but it was already early April and the Dragon Mark hadn't been approved yet.
Zhang Chen was dumbfounded, how could this happen? He had clearly been very careful and submitted a deleted version, so why did it still not accept?
However, Teacher Fu also brought good news: "The school intervened and the film review team promised not to make things difficult again, but the film has been rejected, and they also want to save face. You can just make some symbolic changes to those shots, and there will be no problem this time."
Zhang Chen modified the film according to Teacher Fu’s suggestions and resubmitted it. Sure enough, the Dragon Mark was issued within a few days.
It turns out that it’s easier to get things done if you have someone in the court.
But I definitely won’t be able to catch up with the May Day schedule.
In the Guangguang office, Zhang Chen discussed the release time with Manager Dong again.
"Why not go on the 11th? It's also a holiday."
Zhang Chen shook his head. He would definitely not be able to accept it, and there was still half a year left.
"How about July?"
"You want to compete for the summer slot?"
Zhang Chen nodded.
"May 5.28th's "The Day After Tomorrow", June 6.10th's "The Big Event", June 6.12th's "Troy", and July 7.16th's "House of Flying Daggers". These four are the main opponents, and the others are just a bunch of miscellaneous troops."
Manager Dong spread his hands, meaning that no matter what choice you make, you will die.
Zhang Chen fell into deep thought. He didn't care about Hong Kong movies. The reputation of "Big Event" was not very good. Apart from that 6-minute and 55-second long shot, it was useless. This movie was just for Johnnie To to show off his skills.
But Hollywood blockbusters should be taken seriously. "The Day After Tomorrow" is a special effects blockbuster. At this stage, people in China only care about special effects, and they will die if they encounter them.
Troy is a large-scale war film with grand scenes, and the box office is probably not bad, but the degree of danger is definitely not as high as The Day After Tomorrow. In comparison, the easiest to bully is House of Flying Daggers.
Although "House of Flying Daggers" is another commercial blockbuster released by Zhang Yimou after "Hero", Zhang Chen knows that the reputation of this film is not very good. It is said to be the second to last among Zhang Yimou's films, and the last one is "Three Guns".
This may not make sense, but an example is more intuitive: Zhang Yimou's first commercial blockbuster "Hero" had a box office of 2.5 million yuan, which was also the annual champion. Two years later, "House of Flying Daggers" only had a box office of 1.5 million yuan, and this was after the box office share was increased.
"Let's choose July 7nd, between "Troy" and "House of Flying Daggers." Zhang Chen finally made up his mind.
"Are you crazy?"
"I'm not crazy."
He knew that the other party would not understand, so he pointed to the schedule and explained: "July 7nd, Troy has been released for three weeks, and its box office potential is almost over. House of Flying Daggers has not been released yet, so it is our chance."
"But House of Flying Daggers will be released on the 16th. You only have less than half a month. Once House of Flying Daggers is released, you probably won't even have a screening."
"That's enough. Don't forget, my film only cost 200 million dollars, and within two weeks, those pirated discs must have flooded the market. It may not have much impact on blockbusters, but for my kind of film, those who have seen the pirated version will definitely not go to the theater to watch it again."
Zhang Chen had no choice but to do this.
No matter how bad "House of Flying Daggers" is, it is still a blockbuster. As long as it is released, "The Dark Knight" will definitely not even get a share of the spoils.
Moreover, once the pirated version comes out, the harm to "The Dark Invasion" will be fatal, because there is not much difference between watching a pirated version and watching it in the cinema.
If it is a blockbuster like "The Day After Tomorrow", even if people have watched a pirated copy, they might still go to the cinema to watch it again just for the special effects, but for "The Dark", that will definitely not happen.
"Well, since you insist, I'll do as you say."
Manager Dong also felt that what Zhang Chen said made some sense, but Zhang Chen asked another question: "What do you think of my last proposal?"
"Well, headquarters is still considering it."
"Ok."
Zhang Chen did not continue to ask. Anyway, he had already provided the solution. As for whether to adopt the light or not, he could not decide.
After Zhang Chen left, Manager Dong fell into deep thought again, wondering whether he should give it a try.
……
Time passed quickly and it was already June. The promotion of Light had already begun, and people who were used to taking the subway to and from get off work suddenly discovered that the banner advertisements on the subway platforms had been changed overnight.
"Darkness Invasion"?
what is this?
The rolling advertisement on the big screen at the entrance of the cinema also began to play the trailer of "Darkness Invasion", a dark cave, a monster that suddenly appeared, a bloody mountaineering pickaxe...
People's attention is attracted and curiosity arises in their hearts.
Zhang Chen himself was not idle either. He spread the trailer of "Darkness" like a virus in major forums every day.
The publicity had some effect and did attract some people's attention. Zhang Chen noticed that some people were already discussing the topic of "Dark Invasion" in posts on certain forums.
Unlike other universities, the hottest topic on the Beijing Film Academy campus right now is the ban on dramas involving criminal cases.
The so-called ban on crime dramas is a "screen cleansing" project. Specifically, all channels of TV stations at all levels must broadcast crime-related dramas containing violence, murder, terror, etc. after 23:. Once violations are found, they will be dealt with seriously...
In other words, such dramas are not allowed to be broadcast during prime time.
Crime-related dramas have been a very popular topic in the past two years.
Dramas like "Black Hole", "Black Ice" and "Conquer" are all crime-related dramas, and almost every company is filming such dramas!
This directly confused some domestic film and television companies, and they were not even given time to transform. This directly led to the abortion of a large number of dramas in production, and some of the already completed dramas had to be sold at low prices.
The Beijing Film Academy students were discussing this because this had a significant impact on them.
The abortion of a large number of dramas resulted in many students from the acting department being sent back, and the scripts being written by the literature department were also rejected.
Everyone’s internship opportunities were gone, and the small treasury was also affected.
(End of this chapter)