Chapter 302: Indirect collision

On July 28th, *Inception* had been released for half a month.

According to past experience, the first week of a domestic film's release can roughly estimate the film's total box office; the first week generally accounts for about one-third of the total box office.

If one still has doubts about the first week's box office, adding the second week's results basically reveals the film's total box office.

The box office of the first two weeks will account for about three-quarters of the total box office.

This experience applies to most domestic films at that time.

There are certainly exceptions, either those with heaven-defying word-of-mouth or those that are artificially manipulated; these are individual cases and are not many.

So, two weeks after *Inception*'s release, a co-production claiming an investment of 80 million RMB was released, which is *Long Humen*, starring Zhen Zidan, Xie Tingfeng, and Yu Wenle.

Don't think that an investment of 80 million is not much; in this era, let alone 80 million, a film with an investment of 10 million is considered medium-scale.

On the mainland, besides Cao Yang, only Old Mouzi, Chen Kaige, and Xiao Gangpao dare to play with such large investments.

Chen Kaige only had *The Promise* exceeding this scale.

Xiao Gangpao also only had *The Banquet*; his previous film, *A World Without Thieves*, only had an investment of 35 million.

Even in Hong Kong and Taiwan, those who dare to play this big can be counted on one's fingers.

After all, investors are not stupid. How much is the box office market in the mainland and Hong Kong? Even adding Southeast Asia and Japan, it is extremely difficult to break even on a large investment relying on the box office.

An investment of 80 million requires at least 200 million in box office to break even. In this era, wanting to sell 200 million in box office, if you don't sell to North America, it's difficult.

Therefore, Chinese stars who can break into Hollywood are valuable; Cheng Long and Li Lianjie dare to ask for a salary of 100 million.

Zhou Runfa, who has become slightly familiar in Hollywood, dares to ask for a salary of over 40 million and various super treatments.

*Long Humen*, as a co-production, was invested in by four film companies: Hong Kong's Oriental Film Company and the mainland's Bona, Shanghai Film Group, and China Film Co-production Corporation.

Just looking at this lineup, it is quite remarkable for this period.

The founder of Oriental Film Company is Huang Baiming; he was one of the three giants of the once-brilliant Cinema City and a big shot in the Hong Kong film industry.

Bona is one of the largest private film companies in the country.

Shanghai Film Group is a large state-owned enterprise second only to China Film Group.

And China Film Co-production Corporation is even more interesting; it is the company under China Film Group primarily responsible for matters related to Sino-foreign film co-production, meaning it represents the China Film Group externally.

Such a film, because of the existence of China Film Co-production Corporation, being released two weeks after *Inception*, is quite interesting.

It is understandable that Shanghai Film Group chose this slot to distribute *Long Humen*; there is a competitive relationship with China Film Group, so "messing" with China Film Group is nothing unusual.

But China Film Co-production Corporation also agreed to this slot, which is worth pondering.

In the final analysis, this matter still stems from Han Zong.

*District 9* and *Inception*, which were co-produced with Cao Yang, because of the existence of Columbia, belong to Sino-US co-productions and should be the responsibility of China Film Co-production Corporation under China Film Group.

However, as the Vice Chairman and General Manager of China Film Group, and in reality the helmsman of China Film Group, Han Zong personally took charge of the cooperation with Cao Yang, effectively bypassing China Film Co-production Corporation.

This made the internal staff of China Film Co-production Corporation very unhappy.

So, since Shanghai Film Group was willing to step forward, China Film Co-production Corporation went with the flow—according to convention, no one can pick faults with a film taking over the slot of a film released for two weeks; it is completely reasonable and compliant.

Of course, Bona had expressed opinions.

Bona's boss, Yu Dong, graduated from the Management Department of the Beijing Film Academy in 1994 and was later assigned to the Beijing Film Studio. He is an old subordinate of Han Zong, and Han Zong has the grace of promoting him.

And the fact that he is doing well now is also because of Han Zong's support.

So Yu Dong opposed this slot from the beginning; he certainly couldn't do anything to backstab Han Zong or Cao Yang, the face of the Beijing Film Academy.

Helplessly, although he invested one-third, the controlling party was Hong Kong's Oriental Film Company, Shanghai Film Group was the main distributor, and China Film Co-production Corporation was watching the show, so he was powerless.

This is also the reason why Han Zong had been in meetings for the past few days, keeping an eye on the box office; he wanted *Inception* to earn as much box office as possible in these two weeks.

A film with an investment of 80 million is already a big production in the country, and he was also worried that *Long Humen* would affect *Inception*'s box office.

*Long Humen* is adapted from the comic of the same name by Hong Kong's Huang Yulang. The comic has been serialized in Hong Kong for 35 years, and by 2006, over 1400 issues had been released, with over 100,000 copies per issue.

That is to say, *Long Humen* has a very good fan base.

Think about the films adapted from American Marvel and DC comics, which almost all sell well; Han Zong was certainly worried.

This is also the reliance of Oriental Film Company in daring to place the slot two weeks after *Inception*.

They thought very well.

If the daily box office of *Long Humen* at that time was even similar to *Inception*, which had been released for two weeks, then they could pull some strings with *Inception* in the press releases and use Cao Yang's name to hype it up.

Hong Kong filmmakers are still very good at this; just look at Huayi Brothers, who learned from them, and you'll know how awesome they are.

After getting off work today, Han Zong stayed in the office and didn't leave; even his dinner was eaten in the office.

It wasn't until almost two o'clock in the morning that the staff member responsible for box office statistics appeared in his office.

"Han Zong..."

"Are the statistics out?"

Han Zong was startled, threw off the air-conditioning blanket covering him, got up from the sofa, and asked impatiently.

"Yes, through coordination, we already know the box office of *Long Humen*."

The staff member was very sensible and knew what Han Zong wanted to know most.

"How much?"

Han Zong was a bit nervous at this moment.

After all, *Inception* had already been released for two weeks; even if yesterday was Friday, the box office shouldn't reach 20 million, estimated at most around 18 million.

This box office is a bit unsafe. If *Long Humen* is a film like *Hero* or *The Promise*, today's box office might still be similar to *Inception*.

"3.2 million."

"How much? Is it 3.2 million or 32 million?"

Han Zong was stunned, thinking he had misheard.

"It's 3.2 million."

The staff member looked at the record in his hand again and said very affirmatively.

Han Zong was stunned for a full twenty seconds this time before waving his hand powerlessly. "Okay, got it. What about *Inception*?"

"18.64 million."

Han Zong sat on the sofa, barely squeezing out a smile, and said to the staff member: "Little Zheng, you've worked hard tonight. You can get off work; take a day off tomorrow."

After the staff member left, the evil fire in Han Zong's heart couldn't be suppressed no matter what. He stood up and wanted to kick the sofa over, but eventually pulled back his foot; doing so would be too painful, and he couldn't kick the sofa over anyway.

Finally, he just swung his fists a few times and cursed: "Motherfucker, you made me worry for half a day, and that's it?"

The indescribable anger and the frustration of punching into thin air couldn't be shaken off. After thinking about it, he simply picked up his phone and dialed a number. It rang for dozens of seconds before the other party answered.

He ignored the other party's complaints about him not sleeping in the middle of the night and waking them up, and asked directly: "Are you home alone?"

Afterward, he ignored the other party's teasing and said: "I'll be over in a bit."

Then he hung up the phone.

He needed to release this evil fire.

The next day, some media wrote:

"The action film *Long Humen*, starring Zhen Zidan, Xie Tingfeng, and Yu Wenle, was released on the 28th. The first-day box office was explosive, with the total first-day box office in the mainland and Hong Kong exceeding 6 million, becoming the first-day box office champion for domestic films in July..."

Whether the first-day box office in the mainland plus Hong Kong exceeded 6 million is unknown, but the first-day box office champion for domestic films in July is well-deserved, because not many domestic films were released in July...

However, saying it this way is still a bit problematic. Strictly speaking, this film also belongs to a co-production and should be compared with co-productions, such as *Inception*.

Of course, their statement is not wrong; Hong Kong is part of the country, and Hong Kong films also belong to domestic films.

"Director, I've been screwed over by that group of people."

After Yu Dong learned the box office, he called Han Zong to complain. He is a smart person and knows how not to let Han Zong vent his anger on him.

Yu Dong entered the Beijing Film Studio after graduating in 1994, and Han Zong was transferred to be the director of the Beijing Film Studio in 1994. Yu Dong's private address for Han Zong has never changed.

Han Zong leaned against the headboard of the large bed, bare-chested, and laughed heartily at the phone.

"What's so miserable about you, kid? Didn't you already issue a notice saying that you had already recouped the cost by selling the copyrights for East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe?"

"Hey, Director, are you mocking me? Can the specific situation be hidden from you?" Yu Dong continued to complain.

"You don't need to complain. You shouldn't lose much on this film. Yesterday's box office was 3.2 million, and today and tomorrow are the weekend, so the box office will be even higher.

It shouldn't be a problem to get 10 million in these three days, and the total box office should be around 30 million. Plus, Hong Kong can have a box office of 10 million; that's not bad."

Han Zong was in a great mood and calculated the box office of *Long Humen* for Yu Dong. This box office is considered not bad in the country.

"I hope so." Yu Dong said with a bitter smile.

After hanging up Yu Dong's phone, Han Zong didn't get up. He had stayed up until two o'clock at the company yesterday and had been busy here for a while. Being older, he really couldn't take it.

"In a while, I should go check on the business situation of China Film Co-production Corporation."

Han Zong muttered to himself, then lay back down, preparing to sleep a little longer.

The situation of *Long Humen* was not as optimistic as Han Zong said. The second day of release was Saturday, and logically, it should be higher than yesterday's box office.

But this film was complained about by many people who had seen it for its weak plot, and coupled with *Inception*'s high word-of-mouth and continuous viewing craze, *Long Humen*'s Saturday box office did not rise but fell, only getting 2.6 million in box office.

The situation on Sunday was about the same, and the box office decreased again, only getting 2.3 million.

The box office for the three days of the weekend was only 8.1 million. According to the current box office decline trend, getting 20 million in box office would be burning high incense.

For a time, too many relevant people began to regret, and it was extreme regret.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 303 =====