Chapter 30: Box Office and Casting

The next day, Li Xiaoran and the others went to Shanghai to attend the promotional tour, while Cao Yang and Tian Zhuangzhuang remained in Jingcheng to continue working on film preparations.

This time, the Youth Film Studio joined forces with China Film Group to release 270 prints, which was entirely in line with the specifications for a renowned director.

One must know that there are currently fewer than 2,000 screens in the country; 270 prints cover almost every major city.

When *Titanic* was first released, it only had 300 prints, though they added more later due to its immense popularity.

It is, after all, a film that won two Silver Bears, and with the constant news coverage lately, its popularity is quite good, especially among female audiences, where the interest is even higher.

Coupled with the spat between Li Xiaoran and Zhang Ziyi, many people who wouldn't have paid attention otherwise now know that a film starring a Berlin Best Actress winner is being released.

Consequently, a brief wave of movie-going formed.

Then, perhaps because the entire film is from a female perspective, many women began promoting it spontaneously, calling on friends and family, and the box office for the weekend was unexpectedly good.

Once the work week arrived, the audience numbers fell back, but they were still better than the normal ratio.

"Have you checked the box office?" Old Tian asked Cao Yang with a smile.

"Yes, yesterday's statistics are out."

The box office for these past few days has indeed been good: 2.2 million on Friday, 2.7 million on Saturday, and it dipped slightly on Sunday but still brought in 2.6 million, achieving a solid 7.5 million for the opening three-day weekend.

For this reason, both Han Zong of China Film Group and Hou Keming of the Youth Film Studio called specifically to share the joy, offer congratulations, and curry favor.

According to them, as long as nothing goes wrong, the box office is guaranteed to hit 20 million.

Don't think 20 million is a small amount; this is 2001, and for an art-house film to pull in this kind of box office is incredibly heaven-defying, isn't it?

*Happy Times*, released at the end of last year, was a film by the National Master, yet its box office was only a little over 5 million.

*Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*, with its ten Oscar nominations, was impressive enough, right? It starred all big names and was released last October, yet it only made 15 million at the domestic box office.

Why is Feng Xiaogang so arrogant?

Look at his results from last year; he had two films released, *Sigh* and *Be There or Be Square*, and both exceeded 30 million at the box office.

In this era, among all domestic directors, who dares to pat their chest and say their film can exceed 30 million? Including that crowd from Xiangjiang and Taiwan, not a single one dares.

Nowadays, as long as the box office exceeds 15 million, it is considered a blockbuster—note, a blockbuster!

Even for filmmakers from Xiangjiang and Taiwan, as long as the box office exceeds 10 million, it's a decent result, and 15 million is likewise a blockbuster.

Last year, *The Duel*, directed by Andrew Lau and starring Andy Lau, Zhao Wei, and Ekin Cheng, took 15 million at the box office, and it was publicly declared a blockbuster.

You have to realize that it featured Andy Lau, the Asia-sweeping Zhao Wei, and the "Young and Dangerous" Ekin Cheng.

Even with the claim of being a blockbuster, it's unlikely the film made money; out of 15 million in box office, the producers only get a little over 6 million.

In 2000, Andy Lau's asking price was 1 million USD, and his actual take-home pay would be at least 5 million; if it only screened in the mainland, how could it not lose money hiring Andy Lau with that box office?

It all depends on whether Xiangjiang and Southeast Asia pull their weight.

Therefore, one can only say that the market is very poor right now, but the potential is very good.

Tian Zhuangzhuang is also very surprised by the current box office.

He couldn't help but secretly calculate: if the box office hits 20 million, the producers will get about 8.5 million.

Calculating based on 8.5 million, the Youth Film Studio's 10% is 850,000, giving the coal boss 60% is 5.1 million, leaving 2.55 million.

Cao Yang said this was a project initiated by the two of them; selling overseas rights provided a bonus, and the domestic box office provides a share, so he should at least get 10%, right? That's 850,000.

Adding it all up, plus the 500,000 bonus received earlier, he could actually have an income of 1.35 million from this film! Of course, that's before paying taxes.

Before helping Cao Yang, Tian Zhuangzhuang hadn't thought about any of this.

His original thought was that since Teacher Situ had spoken, he definitely had to help. If he tested it and couldn't pass his own standards, he would just go to the Beijing Film Studio or Youth Film Studio to get a DV, find a few students about to graduate from the Beijing Film Academy, scrape them together, and he could pull together a temporary crew.

If they were talented, he would do his best to help!

That's right, it was just helping; he hadn't considered the matter of compensation at all.

This Cao Yang is a guy worth knowing!

Thinking about it again, wait, damn it, the coal boss can actually get over 5 million?!

Holy crap!

In half a year, an eight-fold return—Boss Feng must be the most profitable coal boss to invest in film and television, right?

Since when can coal bosses also make money investing in film and television?

They probably never even thought about it themselves, right?

They just have too much cash flow and throw a few hundred thousand around to pamper a mistress just to make her happy; how could they imagine it would actually make money?

Boss Feng, who got lucky.

Then he thought again, does this mean I also got lucky?

Ha, whatever, when Cao Yang was accepting the award in Berlin, he even said that Laozi was his guide.

A guide, haha, not bad.

Cao Yang looked at Old Tian, who was grinning like a fool, and assumed he was happy about the film's high box office.

!

Old Tian is still a decent guy; I won't give him the role of the domestic abuser in *3-Iron*, and I can't always have Old Tian playing the villain.

The domestic abuser character runs through the entire film and has a very heavy workload; Old Tian is also the art director and has to be the cinematographer, so he can't handle both.

Let's find a Xiangjiang actor; we can't just give them two minor supporting roles with very little screen time—that would seem too perfunctory. Adding this important role should be enough.

"Senior brother, for the role of the domestic abuser, who do you think is suitable from Xiangjiang?"

I don't have to play this?

Tian Zhuangzhuang was quite happy, but because he wasn't prepared, his mind turned and he kicked the ball back, "Who do you have in mind?"

"How about Nick Cheung?"

Old Tian thought quickly and said uncertainly, "Is that the one who acts in comedies? His salary isn't low, is it? It would at least be...?"

That's right, Nick Cheung is just that practical right now; his asking price won't be higher than 1 million, and that's only because he raised his salary after starring in *The Tricky Master*.

"I heard he's been wanting to transition for the past two years. This is an art-house film, so most actors will lower their salary; we can try offering him 200,000."

"Then let's try."

As Old Tian spoke, he suddenly thought of someone and said, "There's someone named something-Hua who has acted in Category III films; he would definitely be handy at playing a domestic abuser or a refined scumbag. The key is that his salary is low; it shouldn't be a problem within 200,000."

Huh? Old Tian, you have quite a broad range of interests; if I asked who the actress playing opposite him is, would you have an answer right on the tip of your tongue?

"Simon Yam?"

"Not him. He could play this role, but our budget is limited, and we can't afford his salary."

Cao Yang already knew who Old Tian was talking about; that person really looks especially suited to playing a refined scumbag when he puts on glasses.

As for the female lead, Cao Yang first thought of two people: Yu Feihong and Gao Yuanyuan.

He was still hesitating when Yu Feihong called.

First, she congratulated Cao Yang on the film's success, then said that although the film she starred in was released a day earlier, it didn't even make a splash, and the box office was too low to look at.

After complaining for a while, she changed the subject: "Junior, I heard you're preparing a new film; is there a role suitable for your senior?"

Look, this is the benefit of having the Beijing Film Academy as a backer; Cao Yang had only just started preparing the film, and they had already heard the news.

What else could Cao Yang say? She was already one of his targets, and since she brought it up herself, let's just settle it.

It was also to thank Yu Feihong for her support last time; when no one else was optimistic, she specifically set aside ten days to make a cameo, which was like sending charcoal in snowy weather.

(End of chapter)