Chapter 104 Lu Yu: I don’t believe it
Chapter 104 Lu Yu: I don’t believe it
It was just after eight o'clock in the morning when Zhang Chen woke up. He had only slept for more than three hours, but he just couldn't fall asleep.
There’s nothing I can do. My name contains the character “Chen” (Chen), so I can’t sleep in.
The room was full of traces of fighting, with guns and ammunition scattered all over the floor, and the older sister next to him was still sleeping soundly.
Zhang Chen felt a little hungry. Physical labor was indeed very exhausting. He had eaten last night, but after all the work, all the work was left to his elder sister.
Without disturbing Xu Qing, Zhang Chen prepared to put on his clothes and leave quietly. Then he moved a little too much and Xu Qing woke up.
"Leave it to you as a souvenir."
Seeing Zhang Chen holding her lace in his hand, Xu Qing couldn't help but tease him.
"Uh, I don't want to. I'm leaving. I'll call you later."
Looking at Zhang Chen fleeing in panic, Xu Qing revealed a smug smile.
After going downstairs, Zhang Chen didn’t have breakfast nearby as he didn’t know if there were any paparazzi waiting there. He took a taxi and went straight to the company.
The promotion of "The Shallows" has been put on the agenda, and the company has a lot of things to do.
When he returned to the company, he found that Dong Jianqiang had arrived earlier than him and handed him a piece of paper as soon as he arrived.
"what is this?"
"China Film sent me a publicity schedule. You must attend those listed here. The rest will be arranged on a temporary basis."
Zhang Chen looked at the long list of plans: "So many?"
"If you want to compete with the publicity for House of Flying Daggers, you need this much."
"Okay, I'll cooperate unconditionally. What about Fan Binbin?"
"I have already informed her to put aside other things during this period and focus on promoting with us."
In fact, Fan Binbin was very cooperative. Currently, the Wang brothers and Wang Jinghua were separating, and everyone in the company was in a panic, so no new projects were arranged for her.
"The Shallows" is her first movie with a female lead, so she will definitely take it very seriously.
Hearing Zhang Chen's stomach growling, Dong Jianqiang asked the front desk to go downstairs to pack two breakfasts. The two of them hid in the conference room and ate while chatting.
"The trailer has been sent out, and it's mainly the people from China Film Group who are in charge of it, but I also hired three people to be in charge of future online promotions."
Dong Jianqiang said as he peeled eggs that he believed the company would sooner or later get involved in the issuance business and it was customary to prepare in advance.
Zhang Chen didn't care. He was a layman in managing a company, so he just left everything to Dong Jianqiang.
"How's the contact with Zhang Ziyi going?"
"We have contacted her agent, Ji Lingling, and they said they will discuss it and call us back later."
Zhang Chen nodded, and seeing Dong Jianqiang about to put the egg into his mouth, he taught him: "Don't eat boiled eggs dry, that's meaningless, eat them with soy sauce and vinegar, I guarantee you will taste better."
"Really?"
"Really, more real than pearls. I've been eating this way for twenty years."
……
Chaoyang District, Inter Apartment
Zhang Ziyi was also discussing the movie with Ji Lingling.
"The director of 'Dark Invasion' is collaborating with New Line America on a horror film and wants to invite you to play the leading role?"
"The Eden Lake Project?"
"Yes, it's a drama with a strong female lead. Here's the script. Do you want to take a look?"
"Okay, bring it."
Zhang Ziyi didn't even have time to eat. This matter has been widely circulated in the circle recently and everyone wants to fight for it.
She didn't take the initiative to fight for it, but unexpectedly she was invited, which made her feel very superior.
He put the pancake down, clapped his hands, shook off the food residue, and then took the script from Ji Lingling.
She flipped through the pages quickly and finished reading the script in just a few minutes.
It is indeed a drama with a strong female lead, and the female lead is the undisputed first protagonist, which is completely different from the ones she has played before.
She was the leading actress in "Rush Hour 2" and "House of Flying Daggers", but her roles were just so-so and cannot be compared with this one at all.
"What do you think?"
Zhang Ziyi did not make a rash decision, but decided to listen to her agent's advice.
"Except for the low pay, everything else is OK. Although there have been other projects approaching us during this period, this one is the best by comparison.
Although Zhang Chen is not a big director like Zhang Yimou and Tsui Hark, his "Darkness" sold well, and it is a Hollywood project after all. Even if horror movies are niche, it is still a Hollywood project, which is good for you. "
"How much is the pay?"
"They can only give $300,000."
It is indeed not high. Converted into RMB, it is only 240 million. King Liu's pay for the film is 600 million.
Don't listen to the nonsense during the promotion of "House of Flying Daggers", saying that Andy Lau's salary reached tens of millions of dollars. That was all Zhang Weiping's exaggeration during the promotion.
It is said that Zhang Ziyi’s pay for the film is 500 million US dollars. How is that possible?
"If we compare this to the cost of horror movies in Hollywood, this salary is actually not bad. The total cost of Saw was only $120 million."
Ji Lingling was afraid that Zhang Ziyi didn't understand the situation, so she made a special explanation.
"Well, take it then, and arrange a time to chat together."
Zhang Ziyi continued to eat breakfast. She has always worked with big directors, and Zhang Chen’s status means nothing to her. But Ji Lingling was right about one thing, this is a Hollywood project after all.
Zhang Ziyi is planning to take the international route.
"Okay, I'll call them back then."
……
After having breakfast with Dong Jianqiang, Zhang Chen turned on his computer to write a blog. Although there was no Weibo in that era, many people had already started blogging.
The best ones among them are Han Han and Xu Jinglei. Xu Jinglei is a literary person, so she will post some articles complaining about nothing or share some of her own opinions every few days.
At this time, there is still a large market for literary youths, and the number of likes is very high.
Although Zhang Chen thought this thing was a bit long, he still decided to make it, as a way of using his spare time to build his own personal brand.
Compared to a microblog of one or two hundred words, a blog of about a thousand words is considered a long article and is a bit difficult to write.
But when it comes to promoting a movie, there’s no need to worry about the hassle.
Write a little about your expectations for The Shallows, write a little about the interesting things that happened during the filming, and add two stills, and you’re done.
Just send out the article and wait for it to ferment. He doesn’t have many fans right now.
In the afternoon, Guangguang arranged an exclusive interview with Phoenix TV's "Lu Yu You Yue: Tell Your Story".
Zhang Chen and Fan Binbin attended.
The interview was in the form of a casual chat. There were two large sofas in the studio and everyone was facing each other, just like having a casual chat.
The current "Lu Yu You Yue" is not broadcast daily yet, Lu Yu is still doing his homework, and the program effect is guaranteed.
Unlike later, after it was changed to daily broadcast, the quality dropped drastically.
"I heard that you didn't have high box office expectations for The Dark Invasion at the beginning?"
Although he came here to promote "The Shallows", Lu Yu did not ask questions right away, but started with "The Dark Side".
Zhang Chen nodded: "Indeed, my initial estimate was about 2000 million or 3000 million. I never expected it to reach 6000 million. This is all thanks to Teacher Binbin."
At this point, Zhang Chen deliberately put his hands together and bowed to Fan Binbin, causing the latter to wave his hands repeatedly.
"Why do you say it's all thanks to Fan Binbin?"
"Because we didn't know each other before that, she was photographed by reporters when she went to the movies, which invisibly brought heat to the film and increased the box office by at least 1000 million."
"Isn't this really arranged in advance?" Lu Yu looked at Fan Binbin.
Fan Binbin replied: "Really not, we didn't know each other before, I just wanted to watch a movie that day, and my assistant recommended this movie to me."
"Oh, didn't you thank her assistant?" Lu Yu turned the topic back to Zhang Chen.
Zhang Chen smiled and said, "Yes, I gave her a bonus of 1000 yuan afterwards. Haha, Teacher Binbin also knows about this."
The atmosphere of the chat was very good, it was really like a casual chat, the topics were relaxed and not aggressive.
"Then why did you criticize Zhang Weiping? Was that also planned in advance?"
"No."
"I do not believe."
Come on, I knew you would say this.
Zhang Chen shrugged. "Really not, but he came to me on his own accord, and I definitely can't let him get away with it. "House of Flying Daggers" is a blockbuster, and his words have a lot of reposts. If the audience is really misled by him and thinks "Darkness" is a bad movie, then I'm done, so I have to confront him..."
"What then?"
"It turns out that 'The Dark' is a great film, otherwise it wouldn't have made such a high box office. In this respect, he actually did something good with bad intentions. The box office success of 'The Dark' is also due to his contribution."
"Hehe~" Lu Yu covered his mouth with his hands because of Zhang Chen's words.
"What about The Shallows? The announcement said The Shallows was your innovation."
“Indeed, The Shallows is the first monster movie in our country, which can be considered an innovation.
In addition, this is also the first domestic film with a female protagonist. There are not many films with women as the absolute protagonists even in the world. "
"Wow, it seems to be true, so amazing?"
"I thought you were going to say I didn't believe it."
"Haha, I don't always say that." Lu Yu felt that his tactics had been figured out by the other party.
“Generally speaking, the movies we watch usually have male characters as the protagonists. Although there is a female protagonist, the story revolves around the male protagonist. Strictly speaking, the female protagonist is actually a supporting role.
But it’s not like that in movies with heroines. The heroine is the absolute first protagonist, like in The Shallows. There’s even no male protagonist in The Shallows. The only character that can match the heroine’s role is the shark.”
"I heard that you announced that The Shallows could gross over 100 million yuan?"
"Yes, The Shallows achieved many firsts in China, which is actually similar to Hero back then, both were attempts. Such films will either fail miserably or become a huge hit, and I think it will be the latter."
Of course, Zhang Chen would try to get any traffic he could, even the "Hero" from two years ago.
"But it's a weird time, November. I've never watched a movie in November in previous years."
The scripts were reviewed in advance. Lu Yu was good and kept passing on topics.
“I knew the upset was coming, so we prepared a lot.”
"After watching the film, the theater representatives expressed their approval. They will give it a lot of filming. We have not neglected the publicity. The stars are not bad either. Fan Binbin is the top-notch in China in terms of appearance..."
When Fan Binbin next to him heard this, his face turned red.
I am pretty, but not to this extent, right? And if you say that, won't you bring bad things upon me?
Lu Yu also laughed. He liked such guests. The ratings of this episode would definitely not be low.
"It seems that you admire Fan Binbin's looks very much."
"Of course, Fan Binbin, her looks are definitely among the best in the country~"
Hearing Zhang Chen say this so matter-of-factly, Fan Binbin behind him covered his mouth and laughed secretly. This scene was fully recorded by the camera.
Zhang Chen didn't notice any of this at all, and continued to talk to himself: "In addition, we have also made considerable efforts to curb piracy..."
"How do you curb piracy?"
"There are a lot of them, so I won't go into detail here. We will have a special press conference later."
(End of this chapter)