Chapter 282

In mainland China, the most lively thing in the entertainment industry in December was the release of "Hero."

From the beginning when Zhang Weiping stood up and had a war of words with "Brotherhood of Blades" to attract traffic, "Hero" had always been in the public eye. Over the past few months, news had been continuously released to maintain exposure. For example, the distribution rights in South Korea were sold for 2 million US dollars today, the rights in Japan were sold for 5 million US dollars tomorrow, and a week later, the European and American distribution rights were sold for a sky-high price of 40 million US dollars. The continuous news attracted the public's attention and whetted many people's appetites.

Especially many people who had already watched "Brotherhood of Blades" really wanted to know if "Hero" was as good as "Brotherhood of Blades."

For the investor Jiang Zhiqiang, he also made a lot of money. He organized the "Hero" project and invested 30 million US dollars. Now the film hasn't even been released, and he has already earned it all back. Because the market response was good after "Brotherhood of Blades" was released overseas a few months ago, the price of Chinese martial arts Kung Fu films also rose with the tide, which also led to the price of "Hero" copyright going up.

However, unlike the last time when he only invested 3 million US dollars in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," this time he invested 20 million US dollars, so he didn't dare to gamble on the market box office, but chose a prudent way, selling all the distribution rights before the release.

Although the return ratio wasn't as high as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," he also made a big profit. If the copyright of the discs was included, he earned at least double this time, and he couldn't close his mouth from smiling. Therefore, he was also willing to spend money on promotion to build momentum for the film in China.

To be honest, the lineup of Director Zhang Yimou, plus Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Chen Daoming, and other big names was still very appealing. Coupled with the market already developed by "Brotherhood of Blades," it also allowed "Hero" to achieve better results than in his past life, achieving a box office result of over 65 million in 3 days on the weekend.

Although this was still not as good as the 80-plus million result of "Brotherhood of Blades," it was also more than 10 million higher than the 50 million in the same period of "Hero" in his past life.

Logically speaking, this result was already very good, and many people in the crew were also full of joy, but as the director, Zhang Yimou couldn't be happy. Because after the film was released, it was greeted by overwhelming scolding:

Look at these critical articles in the newspapers:

"A sword aimed at 'Hero'!"

At this time, Zhang Weiping walked over with a full face of smiles. He was very satisfied with the results of "Hero." Why did he, Zhang Weiping, spend so much effort to bind himself with his "good brother" Zhang Yimou over the years? Wasn't it just to make money?

Some scolded him for having too heavy a slave mentality, deliberately whitewashing the tyrant, fawning over the ruling class, and advocating that power is truth;

Even the answer Maggie Cheung gave to the reporter at the premiere was interpreted by the reporter as dissatisfaction with the quality of the film. A few days ago, a reporter asked Maggie Cheung at the premiere at the Great Hall of the People:

Others angrily sprayed the script and story of the film, saying the plot of the entire film was too thin to support a film at all, so much so that it had to rely on adding passionate scenes between Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi to fill the time;

This made Zhang Yimou fall into an emo state!

Nowadays, some media directly use Maggie Cheung's answer to make an article, saying that she would rather watch the decoration and layout of the Great Hall of the People for 90 minutes than watch the "Hero" she filmed.

Some people were extremely disappointed in him, saying that "Hero" completely lost the humanistic thoughts of his previous films, the characters in the film were completely stereotyped and symbolized, and the entire film was filmed neither artistic nor commercial, completely pretentious;

"A letter to Director Zhang Yimou: You think of us too simply!"

Such a large output left Zhang Yimou with no power to fight back. He himself wasn't a good talker, and besides, some people scolded him in ways he couldn't refute.

Some said his creativity was plagiarized, borrowing the narrative structure of "Rashomon," and there were shadows of "Ran" and "Ashes of Time," deliberately imitating "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," etc.;

"Why didn't 'Hero' move the audience?"

Others scolded the story logic of the entire film as too weak, completely Zhang Yimou's unilateral fantasy, treating the audience as fools...

Maggie Cheung sighed: "I came to the Great Hall of the People today. It's so spectacular here. I think the Great Hall of the People is a visual feast!"

In the past, Zhang Yimou only filmed art films, and he could only take the path of winning awards internationally and selling copyrights. But now that "Hero" was released, the box office was 65 million in 3 days. According to this trend, even if it couldn't compare to "Brotherhood of Blades," the final box office would have to be over 300 million, right?

In short, a conclusion was drawn at the end of this big wave of comments: "Hero" is a bad film with a luxurious lineup!

"'Hero' is only one step away from a bear!"

"The eyes are full, the ears are vomiting, and the soul is wooden!"

"Counting the five sins of 'Hero'!"

"Everyone says 'Hero' is a visual feast. How do you evaluate it?"

As for how they scolded him, it was really varied, with every angle.

And he saw how profitable the regional copyrights of "Hero" were this time. The tens of millions of US dollars that investor Jiang Zhiqiang earned made him very envious!

Although his New Pictures couldn't earn too much this time, with his good brother Zhang Yimou, the hen that lays golden eggs, he also knew the way to lay golden eggs. Was he still worried about not being able to make money in the future? This strengthened Zhang Weiping's idea that he must let Zhang Yimou film martial arts commercial films in the future!

Zhang Weiping saw Zhang Yimou looking at a pile of newspapers and guessed his thoughts, so he came over to comfort him: "Mouzi, don't take these comments to heart. What's the use of them scolding so fiercely? Isn't our box office still rising?"

However, Zhang Yimou didn't think so. He was the director of "Hero," and the film was equivalent to his child. Now that a group of people outside were spraying his child, how could he feel good?

Seeing this, Zhang Weiping rolled his eyes and said again: "Mouzi, how about this, tomorrow I will take you to hold a press conference, and we will scold them back one by one!"

Hearing Zhang Weiping say this, Zhang Yimou felt a little better, feeling that his good brother still cared about him, but he said: "Weiping, forget it, let them scold. I don't want to argue with them either."

Zhang Weiping hurriedly said: "Don't, Mouzi, how can it work if only they scold? You must fight back! Only after you scold back can you attract more people's attention, right? Then the heat of our 'Hero' will definitely rise, and maybe the box office will exceed 'Brotherhood of Blades'!"

Hearing this, Zhang Yimou was stunned. It turned out his good brother wasn't doing justice for him, but for the box office!

In an instant, a feeling of disappointment surged in Zhang Yimou's heart. Subsequently, he revealed a tired expression, waved his hand at Zhang Weiping: "I'm tired, I want to rest for a while."

Hearing this, Zhang Weiping was also angry at his lack of ambition, thinking to himself that he gave him a chance but he didn't use it! Forget it, I still have to go on stage myself. If you don't scold, I, Zhang Weiping, will scold!

Zhang Weiping went back to find people to brew counterattacks and scolding words together, leaving Zhang Yimou alone in the room, feeling sad. Was his "Hero" really that bad?

Just at this time, Zhang Yimou's mobile phone rang. He picked it up, looked at the caller ID, and then pressed the answer button. He only heard a kind and hearty laugh coming from inside:

"Zhang Shixiong, I went to watch the preview of 'Hero' in North America. It's excellent! The composition and colors are amazing. You really deserve to be Zhang Shixiong. I still have a lot to learn!"

This time "Hero" wasn't sold to Miramax, but to Sony Pictures Classics. Therefore, Sony Pictures Classics still adopted the same method as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" at the time, expanding promotion while pushing for the Oscars, and had already previewed "Hero" in North America.

Zhang Yimou waved his hand and sighed: "Don't say that. I'm now being scolded like a street rat, everyone shouting to beat me!"

Wu Yuchen understood what was going on as soon as he heard it. It seemed that Zhang Yimou still hadn't escaped the same encounter as in his past life. However, he still pretended not to know and asked: "What's going on?"

Zhang Yimou took the opportunity to start pouring out to Wu Yuchen. After all, he and Wu Yuchen were both directors, and sometimes only directors could understand directors.

After listening, Wu Yuchen didn't come up to comfort Zhang Yimou, but asked: "Zhang Shixiong, do you know why everyone reacted so strongly this time?"

"Why?" Zhang Yimou was also a bit confused. Actually, it wasn't as if no one had scolded him before, but it was beyond Zhang Yimou's expectation that it would be as fierce as "Hero" this time.

"Because of expectations!"

"Expectations? You mean... my transformation to film 'Hero' this time doesn't match my previous style?" Zhang Yimou asked.

"This is one point. But a more important point is that your film didn't meet the expectations of these literati who hold the pen!"

Wu Yuchen continued to say with a smile: "Zhang Shixiong, a few months ago, some people said my 'Brotherhood of Blades' was an anti-genre martial arts film, but actually, your 'Hero' is actually more anti-martial arts in its core!"

Nowadays, it is the period when Western universal values are most prosperous in China, such as democracy, freedom, resistance, etc. The media people of this era are the most supportive of these. And coincidentally, these can be perfectly embodied by the knights in martial arts films.

The so-called knights commit crimes with martial arts. Many things that everyone dares not do usually can be satisfied through the fantasy of "knights." So on the point of "knights," it has always had a spirit of rebellion and resistance. Even Wu Yuchen's "Brotherhood of Blades" actually embodied this point.

And what about "Hero"? Originally, the story of "Jing Ke Assassinating the King of Qin," which is the most representative in history, and the tragic feeling that is most infectious through the ages, lies in "knowing it cannot be done but doing it." In the ending of "Hero," it became the knight taking the initiative to sacrifice, taking the initiative to give up this spirit of resistance and rebellion. Therefore, in the eyes of many people, this is violating the "knight," losing the core of the "knight" spirit.

After listening, Zhang Yimou also understood Wu Yuchen's meaning and revealed a bitter smile: "Actually, it's not that I haven't considered this point, but isn't it said that the great knight is for the country and the people? In my heart, a true great knight should have this grand pattern of caring for the world. It's just that I didn't expect that even Jin Yong would stand up and scold me after watching it. Sigh..."

When "Hero" premiered in Hong Kong, martial arts master Jin Yong was invited. As a result, he expressed his views when interviewed two days ago:

"'Hero' filmed the famous tyrant Qin Shi Huang in history like this, which is completely opposite to the image in history. It deceives the audience and has the meaning of whitewashing him. It divides human value into several grades and does not respect life. This is a very absurd film, so I don't like it."

Wu Yuchen said directly on the phone: "Zhang Shixiong, don't take Jin Yong's view to heart. He himself has his own position."

The so-called butt decides the head. Actually, many creators have their own positions. For example, Zhang Yimou is a person from Shanxi, so he must prefer Qin Shi Huang in his heart; while Jin Yong's ancestors were Bannermen, so he secretly blackened Zhu Yuanzhang at the end of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber," and also whitewashed Kangxi in "The Deer and the Cauldron." It is not surprising that he doesn't like "Hero" beautifying Qin Shi Huang this time.

Then Wu Yuchen said at this time: "Zhang Shixiong, actually you don't have to be sad. I believe many people still like your film, it's just that many people don't have a channel to speak out. I see that the response to 'Hero' overseas is quite good.

And no one stipulates that knights must oppose the imperial court. This kind of great knight who cares for the world is also a kind of knight. Those who die for the common people of the world are heroes!

Zhang Shixiong, your film is a bit ahead of its time. Now everyone advocates Western universal values. Only when our country's strength is strong will everyone be more confident in their own Eastern collectivism and family-country sentiment spirit. Ten years later, I can guarantee that the word-of-mouth of 'Hero' will definitely be very different from now!"

Hearing Wu Yuchen say this, Zhang Yimou felt much more comfortable in his heart, and then he said again: "Hey, when I filmed 'Hero,' actually I also designed another ending."

"Oh? What?" Wu Yuchen asked curiously.

"It's that after the ministers shouted 'Great King, kill! Great King, kill!', they all laughed together, adding a sentence 'Congratulations Great King, you have escaped a disaster!', and then Chen Daoming, this Qin Shi Huang, revealed a meaningful smile."

After listening, Wu Yuchen immediately understood. The meaning of the ministers shouting this sentence is to turn the entire assassination into an ironic mystery case, that is, the King of Qin is also deceiving. The "I didn't expect the person who understands me best is the assassin I am wanted for" in his mouth is fake. He used his acting skills to make a play in exchange for the trust of several major assassins who gave their lives.

Zhang Yimou smiled mockingly and said: "If I had taken out this ending, the whole thing would have been reversed again, and I guess I wouldn't have been scolded by these people for beautifying the tyrant."

Wu Yuchen said directly: "Zhang Shixiong, fortunately you didn't film it like this! If you had filmed it like this, this film would probably have been sprayed even worse. Not only would Wuming's death have no tragic feeling at all, becoming a clown-like existence, but Qin Shi Huang would also have become a treacherous person. This film would have completely lost a hero and directly become a bear! At that time, not only would these intellectuals not treat you well, but even many viewers would follow to spray you!"

Zhang Yimou also smiled and said: "Hahaha, so I also thought about it for a while and didn't adopt this ending."

Wu Yuchen nodded: "Well, don't take these scoldings to heart now, just film what you think is right."

Subsequently, Wu Yuchen and Zhang Yimou chatted a lot about the filming techniques and various aspects of "Hero," and then the two ended this transoceanic call.

Zhang Yimou suddenly felt much more comfortable, only sighing that Wu Yuchen, who is also a director, understands him!