Chapter 527: Becoming one of the world's top directors, the legendary chapter of "Detectiv
How can I describe the results of this year's Oscars? It can be described in four words.
Not satisfactory.
If you say we returned in a disastrous defeat, that's not the case.
Anyway, "Barbie" also won two awards, Best Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay, right?
This is definitely a technical award.
It's not like you can get any movie just by chance.
"Barbie" has also achieved certain results.
But this is definitely not a good harvest, because the director of "Barbie" is Zhou Qing.
For a director of Zhou Qing's caliber, both the public and people in the industry have relatively higher expectations.
Winning only two small prizes, the situation was indeed a bit embarrassing.
Fortunately, the box office of "Barbie" was really crazy successful.
I guess it can save some face.
But from a commercial perspective, Zhou Qing feels that Barbie's Oscar journey was quite successful.
Even though it only won two small awards, "Barbie" has gained great attention around the world.
If we talk about it from the perspective of publicity and promotion, how much money would it cost to gain such attention?
Worth it!
Very worth it!
According to statistics from Crown Pictures and Zhou Qing Pictures, ticket sales for "Barbie" increased significantly during the award ceremony.
I believe that when the box office figures come out tomorrow, there will definitely be a corresponding reversal of the decline.
Anyway, Zhou Qing was very satisfied with it.
He returned to Crown Pictures contentedly.
The Oscars ceremony has ended, and "Barbie" has been released for more than a month, so Zhou Qing's mission in Hollywood has come to an end.
Zhou Qing planned to return to China directly after a short rest.
But before that, Zhou Qing had never thought that someone from Warner would find him.
"Director Zhou, after much deliberation, we think you are the only one who can make this film well."
"We sincerely hope that you can accept our invitation."
The other party was very humble, and its senior executives personally came to Crown Pictures to invite Zhou Qing to come out.
To make a sequel to the classic disaster blockbuster "Twister" released in 96.
The film's performance was very impressive that year. In 96, it took in a global box office of 4.9 million US dollars.
Ranked second in the annual box office ranking in 96.
Even now, it is definitely a super hit at the level of "Barbie".
So Zhou Qing can understand Warner's decision to restart this movie.
Hollywood is experiencing a serious lack of creativity these days. Of course, this is true all over the world, but it is particularly obvious in Hollywood.
There are fewer and fewer original new films, and original new films that can achieve good results are even rarer.
If you count the box office rankings last year, the vast majority are sequels, remakes, reboots, and adaptations.
It's almost hard to see original works.
Even some old films from more than ten or even dozens of years ago have been dug up and exploited again.
"Top Gun", which was released in 86, actually had a sequel 22 years later.
"Ghostbusters", which was released in 88, also started filming a sequel in 24 years.
Compared with this, what does it matter that the 96 film "Twister" also had a sequel 23 years later?
It's just a pity that Zhou Qing has no interest in this kind of rehashed movie.
In his career plan, Hollywood was never a major battlefield.
Now that "Barbie" has conquered Hollywood, Zhou Qing has become less interested in expanding his career here.
Anyway, "Barbie" has already proven herself thoroughly, so why bother leaving her hometown and going through all this trouble?
Make money?
The money I earn in the country is not less than that.
What's more, even if he is in the country, he can continue to make money here by using Crown Pictures.
Fame?
"Barbie" has already brought his fame to the peak, and he doesn't need to prove himself with other works.
So Zhou Qing couldn't find a strong reason to continue working in Hollywood.
What's more, even if Zhou Qing really wanted to make a movie in Hollywood, it would definitely not be "Tornado".
What era is this? How big of a market can disaster films have?
This is not 96, when the visual spectacle could attract many audiences.
It's been 23 years now. What kind of disaster movies haven't you seen?
With such excellent works as "The Day After Tomorrow" and "2012" as your predecessors, why are you still remaking "Twister"?
In the original time and space, a sequel to "Tornado" was indeed released, but its market performance was not as good as the original in 96.
The cost was as high as 2 million US dollars, and the producers did not even recover the costs.
Moreover, this movie has received good ratings on major rating platforms in North America, and even has a rating of 6.4 on Douban.
The quality is actually pretty good.
Such unsatisfactory results can only mean that the market really doesn't buy it.
Not all old movies that are re-released can sell as well as Top Gun 2.
If Zhou Qing really wanted to shoot a movie, it would be "Wicked", and it would never be "Twister".
So Zhou Qing politely declined Warner's invitation.
Warner's attitude is really sincere and they have really big ambitions.
It seems that they want to replicate the glory of "Top Gun 2".
Even though Zhou Qing clearly refused, he did not give up. Several senior executives came to him, as if he was going to visit him three times.
Zhou Qing was unmoved by this and rejected it firmly.
Seeing that Zhou Qing really had no such plan, Warner finally gave up with great regret.
But they also did not forget to tell Zhou Qing that as long as Zhou Qing changed his mind, they would welcome him at any time.
Change your mind?
Change your mind!
How could Zhou Qing have such an idea? He immediately ordered his assistant to buy a ticket back home.
I boarded the plane back to Beijing as soon as possible.
……
"The 95th Academy Awards ceremony came to an end, and Barbie only won two consolation prizes."
"Director Zhou Qing's dream of winning the Best Director award for the third time was shattered as Barbie won the Best Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay awards."
"Congratulations to Director Zhou Qing for winning two Oscars for Barbie!"
Back home, news about the Oscars had already spread all over the place, spreading throughout the entire Chinese entertainment industry.
Especially the awards won by "Barbie" were widely reported by almost all media.
Everyone in the circle was also talking about it.
"Barbie" did not win any major awards, only two technical awards, which undoubtedly failed to meet the expectations of the public.
"Director Zhou Qing suffered another Oscar defeat."
"Director Zhou Qing has run out of ideas."
"Director Zhou's Oscar glory is a thing of the past."
And so on, all kinds of sarcastic remarks began to appear.
Just as Liu Xiaoli had worried at the beginning.
It seemed that the Oscar award, which was enough for others to brag about for a lifetime, was a disgrace in Zhou Qing's hands.
Zhou Qing was too lazy to pay attention to this, and there was no need to pay attention to it.
Firstly, just as Liu Yifei thought, with Zhou Qing's current level, these things are nothing more than a drizzle.
It can't be shaken at all.
Secondly, Zhou Qing is not just a director, but also a shareholder of Penguin and Old Wave.
Zhou Qing didn't even need to say hello, the discordant voices on Penguin News and Old Wave disappeared immediately. It really didn't even blow Zhou Qing's clothes.
Zhou Qing ignored all these comments and basically stayed at home with his wife and children every day.
Even Zhou Qing Pictures was not willing to go unless it was necessary.
"Call Dad."
"Son, call me daddy and mommy."
After having the little one, Zhou Qing's life changed a lot.
I don’t want to do anything every day, I just want to amuse my silly son.
Although the little guy can't speak yet, he can only babbling, commonly known as "babbling".
But he can clearly show his closeness to Zhou Qing and Liu Yifei.
This made Zhou Qing very happy.
It’s much the same with my parents.
After Zhou Qing opened a hotel for his father in Beijing, his father was full of ambitions and planned to start a second career in Beijing.
But now?
He comes to Zhou Qing every few days.
The family’s wish now is very simple, they just hope the little one can grow up quickly.
……
With the Oscars ceremony, the box office of "Barbie" has seen a significant increase.
But anyway, it has been released for more than a month, and its box office potential has been irreversibly consumed.
Throughout March, the total box office of "Barbie" reached 5.4 million US dollars.
So what about the global box office?
It reached 13.8 billion US dollars.
Just like in the original time and space, the release period of "Barbie" in North America is also three months.
The release in other parts of the world is more complicated, with different policies depending on the region.
But one thing remains unchanged: the box office of "Barbie" has almost come to an end.
Even if Zhou Qing's intervention causes some changes in the box office of "Barbie", I think the changes will not be too big.
In North America, the box office of "Barbie" will be around 6 million US dollars.
It may exceed or fall slightly short.
The global box office is around 14 billion US dollars.
It's basically the same level as before.
But even so, "Barbie" is still a hugely successful hit.
Although it’s only April, “Barbie” has firmly secured its spot as the annual box office champion for 4 years.
It has to be said that Zhou Qing was in a very happy mood.
It was not until this time that Zhou Qing returned to Zhou Qing Pictures to work.
"Qingzi, congratulations, you are now the most powerful director in the world!"
Zhu Yawen came up and started to lick her in an extremely exaggerated tone.
This statement is somewhat exaggerated, but Zhou Qing has indeed entered the top small group in the world.
This is true.
"Come on, are you praising me or insulting me?"
Zhou Qing couldn't help but roll his eyes at Zhu Yawen, "Don't say that anymore in the future."
If other people heard this, who knows what kind of rumors would spread.
Even though Zhou Qing is now the undisputed and recognized number one director in Chinese entertainment, such words are not allowed to be said.
"Am I stupid?"
Zhu Yawen also rolled his eyes.
"Then should I still congratulate you on becoming an international star?"
Zhou Qing also teased Zhu Yawen.
He is the second male lead in "Barbie" and has a lot of scenes.
With the huge sales of "Barbie" in Hollywood and around the world, Zhu Yawen's popularity has really skyrocketed.
His status in the Chinese entertainment industry is soaring.
His position as the number one male star in Chinese entertainment is as secure as a rock.
"What an international superstar, but he is just a supporting role, not even the leading role."
Zhu Yawen waved his hands repeatedly, but the pride in his eyes was about to burst out.
"I am just a minor character. Your Sissi is a real international star!"
Grinning at Zhou Qing, Zhu Yawen added another sentence.
There is really nothing wrong with what you said.
Although the movies Liu Yifei has starred in have never been as popular as "Barbie", she has a lot of works.
"Interstellar", "Crazy Rich Asians" and the three "Divergent" movies all have female protagonists.
Moreover, these movies sold well all over the world, especially "Interstellar", which sold 7 million US dollars worldwide.
It's already scary.
With all this work, if this girl isn’t considered an international star, then what is?
"Okay, I won't talk to you anymore. I have to go get busy."
After chatting with Zhu Yawen for a while, Zhou Qing returned to his office.
Started to handle some necessary company affairs and conceived a 23-year film plan.
The first thing he considered was the two directors under his own company.
There is no need to say much about Wu Jing. The other party is still working overtime to shoot "Raging Fire".
The other party started filming in February and it must be completed in May at the latest.
If we catch up with the progress, the film can be released in July so that it can catch up with the summer vacation in August.
With this calculation, the other party will definitely not be able to release a new film this year.
Even if Zhou Qing has no conscience, he can't force Wu Jing to finish filming "Raging Fire" and then make another movie this year, right?
That is obviously impossible.
So Wu Jing will not arrange any new movies this year.
The other party’s only mission is "Raging Fire".
So what about Luyang?
The other party’s film “Miracle: The Stupid Kid” was released in March, so there is more than enough time.
Then we must continue to arrange a new film.
As for what to shoot, Zhou Qing also thought about it for a while.
It's been 23 years now, and basically all the wool that should be fleeced has been fleeced, and there's nothing left to fleece.
All the stocks in his mind were really used up.
I really can't find anything for Luyang to shoot.
If that’s the case… then Zhou Qing can only create it himself!
Don’t forget that Zhou Qing also has the maximum level of screenwriting skills, so there is no problem for him to write his own original script.
It's just that the efficiency is slightly lower.
But this is actually not a big problem.
So Zhou Qing happily made the decision to assign "The Unknown 2" to Lu Yang.
The film had already been approved in the original time and space, but before filming could begin, Zhou Qing was reborn.
So now, let Zhou Qing make this sequel.
“It’s time to release Detective Chinatown 1900!”
In addition to Lu Yang's new film, Zhou Qing also made such a decision after a brief pause. (End of this chapter)