Chapter 125: Differential Treatment

"42 million in two weeks."

Hearing the number 42 million, Wang Zuxian couldn't sit still. Because the highest box office for her previous movies was 36 million for "God of Gamblers," which had already set the box office record for Hong Kong that year.

And this time, filming "My Brothers and Sisters" was just a whim to pass the time since she hadn't filmed for a long time; she didn't expect it to have already taken 42 million in box office!

At the same time, Wang Zuxian immediately estimated in her heart: judging from the experience in Hong Kong, the box office of the first two weeks usually accounts for 60%-70% of the total box office. Even if calculated at 70%, the total box office of "My Brothers and Sisters" could reach 60 million.

This number completely exceeded Wang Zuxian's expectations, far higher than the 36 million of her "God of Gamblers" back then!

"How could it be so high?"

Wang Zuxian asked pleasantly surprised. To be honest, she hadn't even seen the movie after it was filmed, thinking to herself: is it really that good?

"Haha, Sister Xiaoxian, you are the Asian Diva Wang Zuxian! You have many fans; you have to have some confidence in yourself~" Wu Yuchen said with a smile.

Although she knew the other party was saying nice things, Wang Zuxian still felt beautiful in her heart after hearing it.

Subsequently, Wu Yuchen said again: "Sister Xiaoxian, I discussed it with Factory Manager Han before; when the time comes to split the accounts, we will make up your salary for you!"

When Wang Zuxian came to participate in "My Brothers and Sisters," she only received 500,000, having lowered her salary herself.

Upon hearing this, Wang Zuxian smiled and said to the phone: "No need; it was already agreed upon before~"

"Of course we have to! Otherwise, we won't be able to open our mouths to invite you to cooperate again in the future."

Wu Yuchen said this from his heart. Including Han Sanping, who had this attitude—after all, seeing Wang Zuxian have such box office appeal, naturally he wants to cooperate with her in the future. Compared to such a high box office, what is a mere 1 or 2 million in salary?

Wang Zuxian's favor for Wu Yuchen and mainland film studios like Beijing Film Studio increased greatly. One must know that it's rare for such paid salaries to be made up afterward. Let alone making up the salary, her salary for filming movies was even dragged out several times, and she still can't get it back to this day. Can you reason with the triads in Hong Kong and Wanwan?

When filming "Green Snake," they also pressed her salary very low. She didn't want to film it, but it was Tsui Hark who persuaded her to come back.

Wang Zuxian thought that she didn't even go to run the promotion, so she felt a bit embarrassed:

"Then do you want me to go run the promotion now?"

"Sister Xiaoxian, if you are willing to come, that is naturally the best! We welcome you with both hands!"

Wang Zuxian, in a great mood, thought of another thing and couldn't help but say with a smile:

"Wu Wu Da Dao, it was you who said it back then: if the box office exceeds 50 million, I will be your female lead for free next time. You won't have forgotten, right?"

"Sister Xiaoxian, are you still happy even if you work for free?"

"I'm willing to work for free; you don't want to go back on your word, do you?" Wang Zuxian said playfully.

"How could that be? No one can refuse a Wang Zuxian who doesn't want money! But I'm currently filming a movie; wait until I'm free, and I'll tailor-make a movie for you."

"Then I'll wait for the good news from Wu Wu Da Dao!"

Wu Yuchen smiled after hanging up the phone.

He looked at the newspaper in his hand again:

"'My Brothers and Sisters' breaks 40 million in two weeks, Wang Zuxian's tear-jerker ignites the summer!"

"Wu Wu Da Dao Yuchen joins hands with Wang Zuxian for a family masterpiece that moves China!"

"'My Brothers and Sisters' as a tribute to Hong Kong's return, triggers a movie-watching wave!"

……

A box office of 42 million in two weeks, in the current weak film market, naturally attracted the attention of the entire industry, triggering a lot of spontaneous reports and praise from the media.

To be honest, Wu Yuchen himself was slightly surprised when he heard the box office of "My Brothers and Sisters." According to his expectations, it was possible to break 30 million in two weeks, but being able to reach 42 million still exceeded his expectations.

It can only be said that the promotion of "Wang Zuxian searching for relatives" should have played a not-insignificant role, attracting a group of passersby into the movie theater.

As for the total box office of "My Brothers and Sisters"......

In Hollywood and Hong Kong, where the commercial film market is already relatively mature, it does follow the rule that the first two weeks account for more than 60-70% of the total box office.

But the Chinese film market is not very mature right now. Currently, the box office of the first two weeks is basically all obtained in second-tier provincial capital cities, and these prints still need to be distributed further down.

In the south, there are actually many non-provincial capital cities where the economy is not bad. By the time the prints are sent over, although they will be affected by piracy, the momentum of "My Brothers and Sisters" has already risen, so it will naturally attract quite a few people to walk into the movie theater.

And in the current film screening market, the more explosive the box office of a movie like "My Brothers and Sisters" is, the longer it can stay in the movie theater—at the very least, it can stay for more than half a year.

Wu Yuchen estimated that 60 million is definitely no problem, and 70 million is also possible to reach; going any higher is difficult. This result is already very good; at the very least, it can enter the top five at the end of the year, and the top three is also very hopeful.

As for taking the year-end championship, that's hard to say. The champion of this year's mainland box office ranking is still a foreign film, "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" with 72 million.

Following closely in second place is the great director Xie Jin's "The Opium War." It is said that this movie had an investment of over 100 million. Being able to have such a high box office is also a sightseeing task for various units to visit in groups. Later, some people said that the biggest beneficiary of this movie was Hengdian World Studios; after all, quite a bit of the crew's money was spent on building scenes, which naturally benefited Hengdian. Actually, Xie Jin's ability to tell a story is still quite good, but many filming techniques and concepts indeed can't keep up with the times. A generation of famous directors has thus come to an end!

Of course, the reports in the newspaper are not all praise for Wu Yuchen; there are also quite a few cursing him.

The gist is that he, a Berlin Best Director, shouldn't film "My Brothers and Sisters," which is for the sake of sensationalism, deliberately weakening the plot and only focusing on emotional rendering. This approach is undoubtedly a loss of status, losing the face of a Berlin Best Director!

Wu Yuchen had long anticipated this situation. Think about when Zhang Yimou's "Hero" was released and broke the domestic box office record, only to be met with a nationwide cursing led by a group of literati—tsk tsk tsk!

What fake plot, dragging plot, flashy but without substance, empty spirit, fawning upward...

If you want to say "Hero" has no shortcomings, that's definitely not true, but how could it be as serious as they said at the time?

This group of people now just likes art-house movies; you must pursue elegant art to be praised by these people. Once you film something market-oriented, they will curse you for being vulgar, low-brow, and despicable for bowing to commerce.

To tell the truth, Wu Yuchen admits that he filmed "My Brothers and Sisters" as a carefully planned sensational commercial film, aiming directly at the box office. If this group of people always had consistent standards, he would accept it.

But, he flipped to a few other reports.

"John Woo's 'Face/Off' box office breaks 100 million, conquering America! The number one Chinese director deserves the name!"

"Face/Off" was indeed filmed well, but you bunch of bastards haven't even seen it. It's also a high box office; why aren't you saying John Woo bowed to commerce now?

To put it bluntly, it's really just a group of double-standard dogs who have mastered public opinion. Filming commercial films with high box office in the country deserves to be cursed, while filming with high box office in the American father's side gets applause!

Now is such an eerie era, with various literati and scholars who hold the domestic rice bowl while looking at the foreign moon. In their eyes, anything that touches a bit of foreign style is inevitably superior. Worshiping foreign things is "sober," is political correctness; if you don't worship foreign things, you can't survive.

Such is the general trend, and it will at least last for another ten years. This is also one of the reasons why Wu Yuchen wants to go to Hollywood with great effort—to use the achievements of conquering the "foreign masters" to block the mouths of this group of cheap people.

Wu Yuchen shook his head and stopped thinking about these troublesome things. If you want to say it, whether it's Wu Yuchen and Wang Zuxian, or John Woo who conquered America, at most they are just active in the entertainment section.

The real big event during this period is the return of Hong Kong!

Although Wu Yuchen was leading the crew filming in the countryside at the time, he also saw the whole process of the return through a broken TV—a historic moment!

I have to say, "My Brothers and Sisters" being able to attract so many movie-watchers also has a relationship with the return of Hong Kong. At the time of Hong Kong's return, Wang Zuxian, a Hong Kong star, returning to the mainland to search for relatives, with a complete and moving ending—this naturally fits the theme of Hong Kong's return!

……

Big events in the outside world are big events, but Wu Yuchen's main energy is naturally invested in the filming of the "Christmas in August" crew.

On campus, Wu Yuchen is explaining the scene to Liu Ye:

"Your posture needs to be lower. When you met her in the countryside before, there were no constraints, and you could interact as equals; that was the ignorance of the ignorant.

But now that you've returned to school, you know the gap between you and her in all aspects, so your posture in front of her now must be lower. Imagine you can't get her, you can't look at her directly—this is the correct state!"

……

"Cut! Not right, Liu Ye, now your eyes must carry torment and bitterness, because not only is there a big gap between your family and hers, but she also has a marriage contract set by her family with your best friend, which makes your heart suffer multiple torments, not knowing if you still have the courage to go on with her.

Eyes, expression, body state—torment, bitterness, hesitation, understand?"

……

"Cut! Liu Ye, eyes, pupils don't move; now you are blind, you are a blind person!

When saying lines and making expressions, the pupils are staring straight ahead, don't move!"

"Cut! Still not working, you are not right. Did you watch 'Scent of a Woman' that I told you to watch before? Think about how Al Pacino performed!"

"Cut! Do it again!"

Wu Yuchen is currently filming one of the famous scenes in the movie, which can also be said to be the most moving scene: Liu Ye returns from the battlefield and, in order to dispel the waiting Jiang Qinqin, has actually already gone blind, having rehearsed countless times in the coffee shop to pretend that he is all fine and already married, but is finally discovered by the female lead because of a brat's destruction.

This should be considered the most tear-jerking and sensational scene in the whole film.

Actually, Liu Ye has acted for so long before and has already entered the character, but Wu Yuchen is especially detailed and strict about this scene. Just that shot alone has been filmed dozens of times. Liu Ye naturally doesn't dare to say anything more and can only strive for perfection himself.

At this very moment, Wu Yuchen couldn't help but compare it with when he was a director on "Frequency." It's still more refreshing to be a director in the country!

If he had dared to yell at Sylvester Stallone like this back then, and made him film dozens of times, that old man would have quit long ago, and the final outcome would likely have been him, the director, being sidelined.

……

"Cut! Liu Ye, micro-expressions still need a gradual process!

After she exposes the fact that you are blind, your expression changes from a fake smile to freezing, disappearing, and then becoming flustered, but you can't be too flustered excessively all at once. You need to show a state of trying your best to control your flustered expression to cover up the panic in your heart, because you don't want to lose your composure in front of her, and don't want to make her worry about you again."

……

"Not right, the movement is not right. Watch carefully: first, turn around, then be tripped by this chair leg, which changes your direction, and then directly crash into another coffee table and chair and fall to the ground!"

"Cut! Falling isn't miserable enough; climb up and do it again!"

"Cut! Do you know what 'miserable' is? Like a dog, a miserable look!"

On the sidelines, Chen Minghao, who had already finished his scenes, took advantage of the break to hand Liu Ye a bottle of water, but Liu Ye shook his head and pushed it away directly.

Chen Minghao originally wanted to comfort Liu Ye, but seeing his state of panting and being lost in the character at this moment, he didn't dare to disturb him.

Chen Minghao felt that when he was filming before, Wu Yuchen didn't seem to be picking at Liu Ye's performance frame by frame like he was now; it was simply too strict. He felt that if it were him, he might have collapsed; just watching from the sidelines made him feel immense pressure.

Chen Minghao didn't know if this movie would be successful, but at least he dared to be sure that after this filming, Liu Ye's acting would definitely improve tremendously. When he returns to the class later, he will definitely shock his classmates.

Wu Yuchen also had to admit that the one he spent the most effort on during this filming was Liu Ye. Jiang Qinqin had prepared sufficiently beforehand, and her acting experience was also richer than Liu Ye's, but Liu Ye, who was just a freshman and directly playing the male lead, clearly needed Wu Yuchen to spur him on extra hard.

But fortunately, Liu Ye is a good seedling, and his potential is sufficient; in the end, he was able to present the scene he wanted, which made Wu Yuchen's expenditure of so much energy not in vain.

And on the other side, Wu Yanzu, watching Wu Yuchen being so strict with Liu Ye, couldn't help but feel a bit nervous in his heart. One must know that Liu Ye's scenes would be finished soon, and it would be his turn soon.

After working hard every day for this period, his Mandarin level had improved quite a bit; at the very least, he had memorized his lines by heart, and he looked for people to practice lines with every day, and every tone had been corrected by a teacher.

But he asked himself that he had no acting skills at all. Liu Ye, who was from the film academy, was scolded like this, so what would greet him when the time came?

……

However, the thing Wu Yanzu was worried about didn't happen. Wu Yuchen's attitude toward him was completely different from that toward Liu Ye; he basically didn't get angry, and often comforted him. Although he NG'd quite a few times on his first day on camera, he never gave him a fierce look, which made the pressure in Wu Yanzu's heart decrease greatly.

Wu Yuchen treated Liu Ye and Wu Yanzu differently, naturally for his reasons. Liu Ye had at least experienced a year of tempering at the Central Academy of Drama, withstood the pressure of being expelled, and could resist pressure, so he adopted a strict attitude to better stimulate his potential.

But Wu Yanzu is different; he is a newcomer who has never touched acting, so naturally, guidance is the main thing. Moreover, his character doesn't have as much bitterness in his heart as Liu Ye's; he just needs to show his relaxed and cheerful side. Scolding him often would be counterproductive.

To tell the truth, the difficulty of his character is much smaller than Liu Ye's; he really just needs to perform as himself—a modern campus handsome guy in love with a girl. This is also the reason why Wu Yuchen dared to let Wu Yanzu, a newcomer, play it.

Jiang Qinqin, on the other hand, was scolded quite a bit by Wu Yuchen this time. She acted as the mother character with Liu Ye before, and now she acts as the daughter character with Wu Yanzu, requiring her to show a more lively and cute side.

Although Jiang Qinqin had prepared beforehand, she still couldn't switch from mother to daughter for a while; after all, human emotions can't be completely controlled by oneself.

However, the filming time this time was considered ample, and it just so happened that Wu Yanzu also needed to adapt for a few days after going on camera, which could give Jiang Qinqin time to adjust, and she entered the rhythm as they filmed.

In over two months, "Christmas in August" wrapped up! ===== CHAPTER 126 =====