Chapter 485 South
Two o'clock in the morning on the 27th.
Although it was already late at night, the creative team of "Operation Kunpeng" seemed quite excited after boarding the plane to Shanghai.
Because just before boarding the plane, the box office for September 9 had been basically counted, which was around 26 million. This once again broke the record set by "Red Cliff" in July and became the movie with the highest box office on the first day in China.
Compared with the mixed reviews after the release of "Red Cliff", "Operation Kunpeng" has an excellent reputation. When randomly interviewing the audience, it received a high approval rate of 96%.
And this is the result achieved when many new gimmicks have not yet become popular.
This means that not only will "Operation Kunpeng" have a better start than "Red Cliff", but its subsequent performance will also most likely be better.
After learning the news in the waiting hall, the entire creative team was a little excited and agitated. Even Teacher Fan couldn't stop smiling. Only Ge You and Xu Kun could remain calm.
However, the former was accustomed to storms, while the latter was mainly exhausted.
I thought we were playing a teaching game that night, but Jiang Wenli got so angry that she threw all her past shame out of the window and turned from passive to active.
As a result, that slightly plump body was full of murderous intent.
[Two hundred words of Confucian sayings and their explanations were deleted here...]
It's not like Xu Kun hasn't faced this tactic before, but he was basically the one who took the initiative, so the odds were at most 70:30. This time, Jiang Wenli took the initiative and the odds were reversed to 30:70.
The result was a complete defeat.
For this reason, after taking his seat in the business class, Xu Kun simply adjusted his sitting position, put on his eyesight mask and began to sleep.
Sun Honglei was clamoring to have a drink to celebrate, but seeing Xu Kun's attitude, he had no choice but to give up. He gave Ge You a thumbs up and said, "Director Xu is really becoming more and more like a general. If it were someone else, he would probably be jumping up and down with joy."
Ge You smiled and shook his head, "I'm not worried about him jumping up and down. Instead, I'm worried that he will achieve too much all at once and lose his goal in the future. I don't know what to do."
As he spoke, he asked the flight attendant to bring a blanket. Seeing that Xu Kun didn't react, Baoqiang shook it off and covered him with it.
Ge You didn't find it strange to find that Xu Kun had fallen asleep so quickly. A premiere is like a college entrance examination for a director, especially for a new director like Xu Kun who doesn't have enough works and whose reputation is not strong enough.
It is normal for people to feel physically and mentally exhausted and just want to sleep after a big exam.
However, when he shifted his gaze away from Xu Kun, Ge You still felt a sense of emotion in his heart that took a long time to subside.
At the end of 02, when Xu Kun brought the calligraphy to the old man, who could have thought that such a young man with no background and who changed career path late would be able to create such a situation in the film and television industry in just a few years?
And right next to Ge You, Wang Zhonglei, who served as the team leader as a producer, was also thinking about his own things.
Feng Xiaogang did not participate in this roadshow, which was somewhat unexpected. Xu Kun worked so hard in the promotion of "Assembly", so Feng Xiaogang should have accompanied him for a few days and then left with an excuse like being ill. It would have been more appropriate.
But Feng Xiaogang, the nominal producer, simply gave up.
The reason behind this is intriguing.
Before coming to the airport, brothers Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei held a small meeting to discuss the matter.
In their heart, they wanted to take advantage of the situation to reap some benefits. Even if they couldn't, by making Xu Kun and Feng Xiaogang less united, they could prevent them from further expanding their presence in Huayi.
But in the end, the two gave up this idea because Xu Kun's current momentum was too strong, and the events at the beginning of the year also made the two somewhat unsure about Xu Kun.
Yinghuang had a precedent not too far away. If he failed to fish out chestnuts from the fire, he would end up burning himself...
Thinking of this, Wang Zhonglei could not help but glance at Xu Kun, secretly sighing in his heart that this kid was less than 30 years old but he could make his eldest brother feel fearful. It was truly a case of 'it's hard to compete with a lion'.
Not far behind the two men, Sun Honglei, Zhao Wenzhuo and Wu Jing, who had calmed down, also had their own thoughts.
Sun Honglei recalled the time when he and Xu Kun were fighting overtly and covertly on the set of "Conquer". At that time, he acted like a big brother and hinted that Xu Kun should recognize his own status and identity.
However, Xu Kun said that no matter when, he would admit that Sun Honglei played his elder brother.
Sun Honglei didn't think much of it at the time, but looking back now, playing Xu Kun's elder brother might actually be one of the greatest honors of his life.
Zhao Wenzhuo was both envious and jealous of Xu Kun, but more of it was the desolate feeling of a hero in his twilight years. Although he was not very old, he had long lost his original ambition.
Although he could see the back of Xu Kun's head when he looked up, he always felt that the person in front of him was out of his reach.
Wu Jing's thoughts were relatively simple, mainly he was excited to try. Although after watching the finished film he felt it would be difficult for him to surpass Xu Kun, it was still possible to make a movie with a similar core by following the same pattern, and there was still great hope for success!
Although he may be imitating someone else's work, Wu Jing really likes the plot and core of "Operation Kunpeng" - he didn't think much of it when he was in the mainland before, but the longer he has been in Hong Kong, the stronger his patriotic enthusiasm has become.
Zhang Jin and Yang Junyi, who were sitting behind the three, were discussing in a low voice, preparing to terminate Zhou Yi's contract and join Brother Kun. Zhou Yi's situation has become increasingly chaotic in the past two years. Although his TV series have become popular, his funds are always difficult to recover, and he has even been involved in a lawsuit for financial disputes.
The relationship between the proprietress and Yu Bo became more and more unfaithful.
Based on this reason, even if the two of them became famous because of "Operation Kunpeng", it would be impossible for them to surpass Yu Bo in the company.
In this case, what is the point of staying with this lousy Book of Changes?
However, Yang Junyi was still a little worried: "It is necessary to leave Zhou Yi, but Brother Kun doesn't have his own film and television company. We can't just be someone's younger brother without any status, right?"
"Don't worry about this. Jiang Yiyan has contacted me before. We will register under her studio name first..."
…………
It was just past 4:15 when the plane landed in Shanghai.
Everyone rested in the nearby hotel for another four hours, and only rushed to the Magic City Cinema around eight o'clock.
According to the box office data collected yesterday, Shanghai performed slightly worse than Beijing, which is understandable. After all, Beijing had just experienced the Olympic Games, and the public is naturally more receptive to patriotic films.
Although it was not a premiere, the roadshow of "Operation Kunpeng" still attracted many media participants.
Moreover, compared with the reporters in Beijing, the reporters here were obviously more prepared and asked much more pointed questions.
For example, a female reporter from Southern Metropolis Daily questioned Xu Kun on the spot, asking why there were no positive female characters in the movie and why the only two female characters were two foreign villains.
"This is it."
Facing the female reporter's question, Xu Kun answered frankly: "At that time, I was thinking of making a pure action movie, so I deliberately removed the emotional scenes when preparing the script."
The female reporter was not satisfied with this answer at all and continued to ask aggressively: "Does it mean that when there are female characters, it can only be a love scene? Can't one of the members of the rescue team be replaced by an elite female warrior?!
Director Xu, are your thoughts and actions discriminating against the majority of female soldiers and warriors? Aren’t they soldiers and aren’t they contributing their own strength? ! "
Xu Kun had been a cellmate for more than 20 years in his previous life. This was the first time he faced the new era of female boxing. For a moment, he really didn’t know how to deal with it.
The female reporter from Southern Metropolis Daily did not let him go and continued to ask, "Director Xu, I noticed that your debut work, Lost on Journey, also focused on two men. In real life, you have had scandals with many women, but you claimed that you would not get married before the age of 35.
Can I think that Operation Kunpeng is a true reflection of some of your inner thoughts? The two blonde, blue-eyed, revealingly dressed female villains are how you define the women around you..."
"No no no!"
Xu Kun quickly interrupted her: "I don't mean that at all. If you know me, you should know that I once invested in the female-oriented movie "Youth". I have no discrimination against women at all. I just think that "Operation Kunpeng" is more suitable for male actors, that's all! Okay, next one!"
Seeing that the female host in Shanghai was doing nothing and just looking like a spectator, Xu Kun had no choice but to take over and announce the end of the Q&A session.
But the next question made him feel uncomfortable.
This time it was a male reporter wearing glasses. He started by questioning the bloody killing scenes shot by Xu Kun where the majority was against the minority, and what was the difference between them and the anti-Japanese dramas that were recently ridiculed by the audience?
“I make action movies.”
Xu Kun emphasized speechlessly: "First of all, the theme of anti-Japanese war itself is completely fine. The reason why the audience laughed at it is that these TV dramas are too outrageous in terms of logic and plot.
As a whole, "Operation Kunpeng" is logical and realistic - every action performed by the rescue team in the movie can be done by someone in reality, but because the five of us are not real soldiers, we need some technical assistance.
As for the bloody killings… Whether it is domestic or foreign movies, there are a lot of similar scenes, especially Hollywood movies. Why did no one think it was wrong when foreigners filmed it, but why do we have to be criticized when we shoot it? "
"No no no!"
The reporter shook his head and said, "You are the Venice Film Festival Best Actor. You are a banner and a window facing the outside world. But the movie you made is about the crazy massacre of citizens of other countries abroad. This kind of..."
"This kind of plot is everywhere in Hollywood movies!"
Xu Kun interrupted him and emphasized, "Moreover, those people were not ordinary citizens, but cruel drug dealers. I think every ordinary Dongda person should sympathize with the martyrs who died heroically and the innocent people who were brutally killed after watching the movie, rather than sympathize with a group of inhumane drug dealers!"
"No no no!"
The guy with glasses continued to protest: "After all, you are the Venice Film Festival Best Actor, you should have paid more attention..."
"I am the best actor in Venice, not a traitor in Venice! Next!"
(End of this chapter)
