Chapter 233: The Birth Day of Masters and Blockbusters

(PS. The previous chapter was released)

July 6, 2004, Shanghai Chedun Film and Television City.

A large crew seems to have come to the Republic of China street recently, directly communicating with the management committee to contract a whole street to set the scene.

It's just that the crowd of extras, passersby, and merchants coming and going haven't seen the crew open for business, and it's been a whole month.

Today, the aunt selling breakfast at the door finally saw some shadows. Dozens of field workers wearing strange talisman group uniforms went in and out, and uncovered the dust covers of some large props.

I don't know which fan's scream, all tourists, passersby, and movie fans were surprised to find that many familiar big-name faces appeared in the crew.

"Ah!!! Maggie Cheung!"

"Ah!!! Liu Liu Yifei!"

"Holy shit, washing machine."

Today is the day the *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* crew starts filming.

Boss Lu took the deputy director and the field worker leader down the stairs, having just inspected the most important nursing home scene in the film.

Maggie Cheung was very professional and pondered with the script, greeting Lu Kuan: "Director Lu, your crew doesn't worship gods?"

Liu Liu Yifei, who was visiting the set, smiled: "He is a little Daoist priest himself, and he has already handled it."

"Sister Maggie, look at the clothes these field workers are wearing; they are the talismans he designed."

Lu Kuan crushed the cigarette butt: "Worshiping gods is expensive, and you have to buy piglets. Save some money for everyone to eat."

Maggie Cheung was quite curious about his identity as a Daoist priest: "Sister Mei occasionally talks about your affairs in the circle. Is it really that magical, Director?"

"Can you show me when you have nothing to do?"

Boss Lu joked: "I show Sister Mei once starting at 3 million, or should I deduct it from your film salary as a Cannes film queen?"

Maggie Cheung smacked her lips and teased Liu Liu Yifei, who came to visit the set today: "No wonder you opened such a big company; you know how to make money, right?"

Lu Kuan suddenly remembered something and greeted Liu Liu Yifei: "You have to do me a favor."

The little girl was arrogant: "You won't say please?"

"This is not just my business, it's yours too."

"What?"

Boss Lu smiled: "You have seven or eight official websites and tens of millions of fans. Help me find 800 volunteers across the country to be ticket inspectors."

"Ticket inspectors?"

"It's when *The Exotic* is released in two weeks, go to major cinemas to supervise and prevent people from stealing box office."

Liu Liu Yifei doesn't know what stealing box office means, and can only understand it literally, but it doesn't prevent her from poking the miser.

"You pay, otherwise don't talk about it. Why should my fans work for you for nothing?"

"Film is an art, why talk about money?"

"Besides, aren't they your fans? Whoever steals your box office is targeting you. They should be very motivated without money!"

Liu Liu Yifei was furious: "No, I don't agree."

"Then let's do this, give tickets according to the attendance sessions for each volunteer, and invite them to watch the movie."

Little Liu nodded: "This is about the same. What is stealing box office?"

"Literal meaning."

Lu Kuan looked at his watch and wanted to hurry up and send her away to start work: "You hurry up and let Yang Yang Siwei handle this matter. Find the people in one week."

"If you don't say it, you can hire them with your own money!"

Boss Lu aimed at her a few times and had to explain helplessly: "Stealing box office is divided into two types."

"For example, Jia Jia Kezhang's *The World* is also going to be released. The rebate he opened to the cinema is 43% plus session subsidies, and we are 41%. Then the cinema will open tickets for *The World* for the audience watching *The Exotic*."

"This makes no difference to the audience, but on the surface, the box office of *The Exotic* is less, but the cinema got more money."

Liu Liu Yifei nodded: "Then our box office figures are less."

"There is another more direct one. The cinema played thirty sessions of *The Exotic*, but only reported fifteen sessions to China Film, and missed half the money."

At this time, many second- and third-tier city cinema systems in the country are not networked, and it is not too difficult to do some tricks. If the audience has opinions, it is a big deal to send some popcorn and cola to finish it.

By the time the Internet era arrives in later life, in addition to a large number of online bookings, offline ticketing data is also entered into the system and transmitted in real time, which to a certain extent puts an end to the behavior of stealing box office.

In fact, *The Thief* and *Drummer* both had reactions of box office being stolen before. Movie fans posted on blogs that cinemas opened tickets for other sessions for themselves to watch these two films.

Especially this time, the momentum of *The Exotic* is earth-shattering. In terms of scheduling, it is absolutely a state of national crushing. The film party, that is, the Inquiry Realm and China Film, cannot give the cinema a very high proportion.

In this case, in order to make more money, the cinema is likely to take risks.

Even if it is discovered, it doesn't matter; just fire the temporary worker.

But based on the box office estimate of *The Exotic*, it can bring nearly 1 million gray income to larger cinemas throughout the release period, which is very considerable.

In fact, the superior departments know such unspoken rules clearly, but there is no way to completely eliminate them.

One is that inspection is difficult, and the other is that the superior departments are also one of the culprits.

Especially for main melody films with a tribute nature, the profit is low and the audience is small.

After issuing the instruction to play sessions, if the cinema follows the instructions, it will definitely lose money.

But what if you don't follow it? Industry and commerce, taxation, and fire protection come to the door, and the subsequent awards and evaluations such as excellent screening units have no share for you.

That is the benefit of being able to enjoy policies, discounts, and even priority access to imported film playback rights!

There is no way but to steal, moving the box office of other films over to use, both completing the tasks assigned by the superiors and taking some cheapness themselves.

Lu Kuan walked to Zhao Fei, who was adjusting the lens: "Zhao Laoshi, are you still used to it?"

"It's quite good, much more accurate and convenient than film cameras. It just depends on the effect of the film."

Boss Lu smiled and didn't speak, because he wanted to play the male lead himself, and specially invited Zhao Fei to hold the lens for himself through Tian Tian Zhuangzhuang and Zhang Zhang Yimou.

The latter has cognitive recognition of his film talent, but Zhao Fei himself is also a top photographer who once studied with master Woody Allen.

At this time, he is also observing and grinding with him, seeing whether he is famous or not.

Everything has to be seen in the hands.

The adapted *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* starts from Lu Kuan's birth in 1919 until he died in the arms of Maggie Cheung, who was already old, in the 80s.

In this process, the love and hatred entanglement between men and women is the clue, the encounters of the male lead's several travels and failed participation in the war push the plot, and the changes in the motherland and world pattern spanning 60 years are the background.

Interpreting a picture of ordinary people's love, hatred, sadness, and joy under the torrent of the times.

The original work is a magical romance novel, with top-notch word-of-mouth both at home and abroad, and the story is naturally not lacking.

What Lu Kuan has to do is to explore more lens and narrative techniques outside of the story, completing the growth and transformation of his personal director career.

A scene to be filmed today is because of the war in the mainland, the foster mother Hui Ying-hung in the nursing home, Maggie Cheung's family who has close relations with the resident Chinese officials, etc., immigrated to the United States, and a chance encounter between men and women.

Unrelated personnel cleared the field, Maggie Cheung put on makeup and returned to her youth. The era background here is about 1944.

Because the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, the people in the nursing home in the Shanghai concession had already been brought to Washington by the US resident Chinese officials who had interests.

And the leading actress Maggie Cheung and the foster mother Hui Ying-hung in the nursing home also followed to immigrate and avoid disaster to North America.

Liu Liu Yifei stood curiously in the waiting area. Yesterday she participated in *Yang Lan Interview* in Shanghai, and by the way, she came to visit the set.

She wanted to see how Lu Kuan performed.

The last time I saw Lu Kuan acting was in *The Story of a Noble Family*, an Ouyang with few scenes.

Boss Lu had just finished makeup and put on his costume, a young American look in the 40s. Almost all the foreign ghosts in the film and television city were recruited to be extras today.

Lu Kuan usually wears serious suits or casual suits, and rarely wears other styles of clothes. Looking at this look, Little Liu took out her mobile phone and clicked a picture secretly.

When Maggie Cheung finished makeup and took her place, there were low exclamations on the set again. It was too changeable.

At the age of 39, acting back to 20s, there is almost no difference after makeup.

It is worth mentioning that in David Fincher's *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* in later life, the actress who played the heroine Daisy was also the same 38-year-old "old age" Cate.

She played all the shots of the heroine from 18 to 80, without any sense of violation.

The deputy director played Lu Kuan's role in front of the big monitor, and Zhao Fei gestured OK.

"*The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*, Scene 1, Shot 1, Take 1, Start!"

"My God! Is it you, Li Ming?"

Lu Kuan stood on the steps of the nursing home and looked back, looking at his childhood sweetheart lover.

He wanted to join the Air Force to serve the country in the country, but was crushed by the corruption of the Nationalist Party, and went across the ocean to reunite with his foster mother.

Since he parted with Lucy in Shanghai in 1941, 4 years have passed.

"It's me."

Maggie Cheung wore a tight dress, smiling like a flower.

Because of her graceful figure from practicing dance for many years, she was surprised and covered her mouth, looking at Lu Kuan in disbelief.

He got younger again, compared to last time.

Lucy, who had been influenced by Western culture, rushed up to hug him without any scruples.

Lu Kuan was a bit shy and at a loss, or...

"Homesickness" in the face of a former lover?

He supported Maggie Cheung's lower back with his left hand, and his right hand trembled slightly, failing to touch her jade back for a long time.

The lens gave his facial expression again, just right to show some shyness of a pure young man.

Liu Liu Yifei looked at his performance in disbelief.

Is this the washing machine?

If I didn't know him and understand him, I would definitely think this is a pure young man, a true-color interpretation of being at a loss in the face of his sweetheart!

How did he pretend... to act it out?

She recalled the details of Boss Lu's actions just now in her heart. It looked so natural and smooth, as if there were no special performance techniques.

But why is there such an effect?

"Is it very surprised?"

Li Li Xuejian didn't know when he stood next to her, laughing and asking in a low voice.

"Teacher Li, you are here?"

"Did you see anything from his play?"

Liu Liu Yifei pondered for a few seconds and shook her head discouragedly.

Li Li Xuejian held a hoarse voice: "You learned a lot of performance techniques in *The Exotic* crew, but that is just art."

"Art?"

"Art is various performance schools, just like what they say, Stanislavski, Brecht, experience school, etc."

"That is art, not Dao."

Li Li Xuejian pointed to Lu Kuan and Maggie Cheung who were still competing in the field: "You ponder their state more, and you will know what Dao is."

Little Liu nodded half-understood. She was polished by *The Exotic* and could be regarded as a barely excellent genre film actor.

But what Kubrick gaze learned in the crew, what breaking the fourth wall, and various body and muscle training.

Can only be tools, shortcuts, and carriers to assist performance.

From genre film actors to film queen-level performances that are also familiar with literary films like Maggie Cheung and Gong Li, she still needs to continue to practice and understand.

"Cut!"

The deputy director picked up the walkie-talkie: "Director Lu, do you see if this segment works?"

Zhao Fei also leaned over.

The morning light was faint, Lu Kuan stood on the steps and looked back, eyes meeting with his former lover Maggie Cheung...

Wrong!

Boss Lu suddenly had a feeling of electric shock!

Although the light was weak, it was like a y-ray piercing his body, hitting his soul directly!

A strange and crazy idea emerged in his mind.

Countless classic shots in film history turned over in his eyes in an instant, as if a handful of quicksand kept flowing between his fingers.

His thoughts were frantically locked and captured, trying to find the door that catalyzed inspiration.

"Zhao Fei, you go yourself, move the light position to the right of the axis, about..."

"120 degrees!"

Zhao Fei didn't care to think about his intention, and of course didn't care that he called his full name directly, waving his hand to let the lens holder walk away and adjust the focus and angle himself.

Lu Kuan stood in front of the lens with a frown.

The whole scene was silent, and even the field workers drinking water didn't dare to make a sound.

Everyone knows that this is the director's inspiration, and such an opportunity is fleeting, and everyone is waiting for his instructions.

"Turn on the machine and see the effect."

Zhao Fei followed suit, but even with his experience, he was a bit confused.

This angle is very strange. Combined with the current position of the sun, it is exactly at the bottom of the character and the morning light spot.

Lu Kuan continued to command: "Let the sun enter the frame, fast!"

This not only stunned all the crew members, but also stunned the lens holder and Zhao Fei.

Anyone who has taken pictures with a film camera or a digital camera knows what the effect will be if you shoot with the lens facing the sun?

This is called overexposure in photography, which is an error template for camera photography.

If you sign up for training, the teacher might teach you this common sense in the first lesson.

"What are you stunned for, fast?"

Lu Kuan's tone was a bit unkind, his feeling was almost there.

Zhao Fei watched all his films before accepting the invitation. He didn't believe that this director who won the Golden Lion didn't know what overexposure was!

Cao Yu was also on the set today. He signed up for the NYU photography department and enrolled after the summer vacation.

Liu Liu Yifei asked in a low voice: "What does this mean?"

Li Li Xuejian is proficient in performance, but doesn't have a deep understanding of photography and camera, including Hui Ying-hung, Maggie Cheung, and others on the side, all cast inquiring eyes at this former imperial photographer.

Cao Yu was also very excited. He had been with Lu Kuan for a long time and probably knew his shooting habits.

Such an anxious and at-a-loss natural reaction was obviously a breakthrough inspiration.

"The film lens has a concept called latitude, which is the brightness range that film or digital lenses can accommodate."

"Generally speaking, if the range that the human eye can see is 0 to 100, the digital lens is at most 30 to 70."

He pointed to the lens facing the sun: "Shooting directly facing the sun, the brightness exceeds 70, and it will be overexposed."

"If the brightness is insufficient, the picture will stick together to form black blocks, which is called dead black."

"These two are taboos of photography, but..."

Cao Yu didn't finish his words, but everyone understood his meaning.

Golden Lion Award director, Cannes Jury Prize director, global weekly box office champion director doesn't understand overexposure and dead black?

This is obviously intentional, and everyone is waiting for the result.

Those who understand are lost in thought, and those who don't understand are not clear but feel powerful.

Lu Kuan suddenly laughed silently, which looked so strange from Liu Liu Yifei's perspective.

He wiped his right hand from his forehead, and his face was uncontrollably ruddy because of excitement.

Lu Kuan turned to look at Zhao Fei: "Zhao Laoshi, shoot this segment with overexposure. You adjust the focal length and optical axis, and find me a kind of backlit feeling with slight burrs."

Zhao Fei, the lens holder, Cao Yu, everyone was stunned.

"This..."

Lu Kuan began to induce, but it was more like a monologue to himself.

"Li Ming's life from 1919 to 1989 experienced multiple eras."

"From life in the Shanghai concession, to the pilot training in the mountains of the mountain city, to the Japanese almost occupying the whole territory."

"And later life in the US, the founding and reform and opening up of the country, until the final death in the arms of the lover."

"His life is reverse growth on the outside, while his psychology is gradually mature. I want to give the audience such a perception from the lens!"

He walked to the camera himself and emphasized to Zhao Fei with emotion:

"In his youth, he was full of curiosity and cognition about the outside world, until he recognized the essence of the world."

"This segment I want backlit overexposure with burrs, with a kind of hazy and thirst, is the true portrayal of the protagonist's heart."

"In his middle age, he wanted to resist the fate of national decline but couldn't, and missed his lover repeatedly, sorrowful and hesitant."

"This segment I want more direct backlight, the dead black in the backlight doesn't matter, this is the predicament faced by the protagonist."

"In his old age, give relatively normal lens light, with a texture of years, until the protagonist completely grows in reverse and becomes an infant, dying in the lover's arms."

Lu Kuan closed his eyes while talking, and didn't look at Zhao Fei confidently until he finished describing the lens design of the protagonist's three different life stages.

"Zhao Laoshi, what do you think?"

Zhao Fei looked up at the young director standing in the backlight. From his angle, Lu Kuan's lens position now is the overexposure just described.

Zhao Fei is one of the top photographers in the country, perhaps it is no problem to remove one of them.

He followed the fifth generation who had just started to shoot classics like *Horse Thief* and *Raise the Red Lantern*, and later had works such as *The Sun Also Rises* and *Let the Bullets Fly*.

He also studied for two years in Hollywood with Woody Allen, who is bound to stay in film history.

At this moment, looking at Lu Kuan in the backlight, a glimmer of hope and expectation rose in his heart.

Maybe...

China will also have its own film masters.

Maggie Cheung smiled gently. He saw a shadow of Wong Kar-wai in Lu Kuan.

The two are simply in the same emotional state in the film, both so focused and thirsty.

Little Liu stared blankly at him dancing with his eyebrows and eyes as if he were crazy, imagining the film picture he described, thinking of that beautiful and extremely romantic, tear-jerking ending of the character.

For a time, she couldn't help but be obsessed.

After filming at night, Lu Kuan couldn't wait to watch the clips of the day repeatedly, constantly writing and drawing on the storyboard.

Overexposure and dead black are taboos, but they are not unheard of or unseen.

In Quentin's *Sin City*, there are often overexposures to highlight the outlines of key characters and objects, creating a strong visual impact and mysterious atmosphere.

For example, in some fighting scenes, the white strong light focuses on the protagonist's fist or the shiny blade, making the audience's attention instantly concentrated.

In David Fincher's *Se7en*, the director uses overexposure to strengthen the tragedy and tension of the crime scene.

For example, when the victim's body is discovered, the picture instantly overexposes and becomes more dazzling, bringing a strong visual and psychological impact to the audience.

It's just that the above cases are only coloring in some details in the film.

Lu Kuan combines the character psychology and era changes of the whole film with this lens technique that seems to be taboo.

In Zhao Fei's view, this is simply an idea and idea that is not inferior to masters like Woody Allen!

Just like Quentin said to Park Chan-wook at the premiere of *The Exotic* in Cannes, Lu Kuan's most outstanding feature as a director is that he can constantly progress and push through the old to bring forth the new.

You know, film language has developed for more than a hundred years, and basically all techniques and fields have been explored by predecessors.

Being skilled is just a craftsman, and creating is a master.

At 6 PM on July 20, 2004, Beijing Great Hall of the People, *The Exotic* mainland premiere.

A blockbuster must have the treatment of a blockbuster.

Not comparable to small-budget films like *Drummer* and *The Thief*, *The Exotic*, which has already won the global weekly box office champion, is more qualified than anyone else to premiere on this occasion.

Today is basically the whole domestic entertainment industry.

The new forces of private film and television represented by Lu Kuan and the Inquiry Realm, the Hong Kong entertainment forces represented by Emperor, China Star, and Anita Mui.

And the official power represented by Han Han Shanping, who is always the most useful.

Even the stars including Yanda Huayi's two Bing can be regarded as "gathering of sages."

Leonardo, Tom Cruise, and others are being interviewed. Even though they have been through many battles, they still can't help but be surprised by the madness of domestic media and fans.

Boss Lu smiled and greeted guests. Dong Dong Shuangqiang brought a man in a suit and leather shoes who looked like he was thirty-five or thirty-six.

"Director Lu, I'm late."

"Introduce you, General Manager Zhou of Morgan Stanley Investment Banking Department, Zhou Jun."

Zhou Jun, who is wearing a Huntsman high-definition suit, behaves very appropriately, and at a glance, he comes from a family of political and business giants who live in qi and raise qi.

Lu Kuan thought that no matter how to avoid it, he couldn't avoid it, so he reached out with a calm face: "Lucky, General Manager Zhou, welcome to support."

Zhou Jun seemed to be more enthusiastic and active than him, holding Boss Lu's hand with both hands: "Where, I am uninvited."

"If there is any presumption, please forgive me. I told my secretary before I came. The several listing counseling companies we cooperate with, more than 30,000 people, have booked the venue to watch *The Exotic* to support Director Lu!"

Lu Kuan said lightly: "Thank you, I appreciate your kindness, General Manager Zhou. Have a good time today."

Zhou Jun's face changed slightly when he saw him smiling and leaving, but it was only for a moment, and he returned to normal. Just this cultivation of qi was several levels higher than the local snake Liu Liu Zeyu.

"Old Dong, this Director Lu is worth making friends with; he doesn't want his friends to suffer at all."

Dong Dong Shuangqiang apologized with a smile, thinking about his subtext.

Making friends means forcing yourself to pull strings again. This is really a bitter job, and neither side is pleasing.

Wang Dajun observed for a long time before he had the opportunity to bring his brother over to say hello.

"Young Master Zhou, Young Master Zhou?"

Zhou Jun looked back and immediately changed into an enthusiastic smile: "General Manager Wang, long time no see, long time no see."

In fact, the two have only met once.

Dajun was a bit excited. This is not a luxurious figure that can be easily encountered. If he didn't pay New Year's greetings to the old leader at the beginning of the year, where could he meet once.

Especially his professional background and family background are of great benefit to Yanda Huayi, who is determined to go public later.

"Brother, what are you doing?"

Wang Xiaolei walked over with a red face, followed by Jang Na-ra, which was also the first time she participated in domestic activities after signing the contract.

In fact, Jang Na-ra is already a little famous in the country, but she still has to rub it in such a big occasion.

It can also leave a good impression on the Lu Boss she has admired for a long time.

Wang Dajun turned his head with a solemn face: "Wang Xiaolei, come over and say hello to General Manager Zhou, hurry up."

Wang Wang Xiaolei was stunned by his momentum and didn't dare to introduce his own artist rashly: "General Manager Zhou, I am Wang Xiaolei, we met last year."

"Good, good, good, tiger brothers are you guys, I've heard of Yanda Huayi, it's very good."

He saw Jang Na-ra behind Wang Wang Xiaolei again.

"Who is this?"

Because Zhou Jun was very interested in Lu Kuan and the Inquiry Realm, he had been making up for the domestic entertainment he was not familiar with recently, and there was no such number of small beauties in his mind.

Wang Wang Xiaolei was stunned by his momentum just now and didn't dare to introduce his own artist rashly, so he took Jang Na-ra's arm.

"The Korean artist just signed by the company, Jang Na-ra, who is very young and excellent."

"Na-ra, this is General Manager Zhou of the international top investment bank Morgan Stanley. Say hello."

Jang Na-ra has been out filming with her father since she was a child, and she is familiar with such scenes, and introduced herself in fluent Chinese.

Zhou Jun smiled and replied, and chatted with the two brothers for a few words, and took Dong Dong Shuangqiang to take his seat.

The Wang brothers watched him walk away and found a corner to talk about things.

"Brother, Lu Kuan and him?"

"Should be unfamiliar, I see that the two didn't smile when they talked just now."

Wang Wang Xiaolei was a bit lucky: "If these two people are together, it will be terrible."

"The system of the Inquiry Realm is about to be built. If he is given sufficient funds, it will be like adding wings to a tiger."

He hasn't mentioned Zhou Jun's family background. Some names are not suitable for mentioning in public. In short, his brother knows much better than himself.

Wang Dajun frowned and thought for a few seconds: "Let's see, how can we not let them merge."

He turned his head and saw Jang Na-ra standing not far away.

"Wang Xiaolei, after the show, you take Na-ra, Fan Bingbing, and me to send General Manager Zhou off, and show your face more in front of people."

"Mm, no problem brother."

Wang Dajun nodded. His brother is very good at these welcoming and sending things, and he is not very worried.

However, Zhou Jun's family background, and the lady who is not small in background, this beauty is sent or not.

Don't offend Mrs. Zhou, and

Boss Lu lacks a solid background; his only reliance now is the network of interests linking all parties, where you have me and I have you.

Yanda Huayi, however, started from advertising, a business that requires significant resources and connections to build up.

The standardization and regulation project for over 15,000 Bank of China branches nationwide—is this a contract someone without a background could land?

People like Zhou Jun, whom Lu Kuan avoids like the plague, are the very soil of official-merchant capital that nourishes and breeds Yanda Huayi.

The premiere began quickly; the host took the stage for a brief introduction, then signaled the staff to push out an ice sculpture of unprecedented scale.

The reason it is called unprecedented in scale is that, damn it, the number was just too long, looking extremely exaggerated.

Reporters, fans, and guests took photos one after another; it is foreseeable that the blog will be flooded again tonight.

This was naturally a promotional gimmick cooked up by the "grandstanding" Boss Lu; the number on the ice sculpture was the global total box office as of the previous day.

"As of today, the global box office for 'Foreign Land' has reached 398 million USD! Congratulations to the production team and the investors!"

The host's brief announcement left everyone at the scene speechless for a moment.

The Inquiry Realm faction was ecstatic, the Yanda Huayi faction was solemn, and there were those like Zhou Jun, who wore a smile but had deep thoughts.

Lu Kuan, along with Liu Liu Yifei, Leonardo, Tom Cruise, as well as Old Han from China Film and Old Li from Emperor, smashed the seven-to-eight-meter-long ice sculpture together, and the applause at the scene was like a tide!

Domestic Entertainment: Learned it, learned it—a 100,000-value lesson in showing off and a course on advertising gimmick hype.

Immediately following was an interview that was exactly the same.

Leonardo made a fool of himself by singing a Chinese song; his clumsy accent made the audience roar with laughter, and everyone loves seeing famous foreigners speak Chinese.

The atmosphere at the scene was extraordinarily good, until the last question was given to Lu Kuan.

"Director Lu, what is your expectation for the domestic box office?"

Boss Lu was almost blinded by the camera flashes, yet he still calmly showed off: "Perhaps I should speak more conservatively so that I won't be scolded for failing to reach it."

"But from my personal perspective, I hope the box office is no less than 360 million RMB."

The scene was full of professional film reporters, who quickly responded: "Are you aiming to break the box office record of 'Titanic'?"

Boss Lu laughed: "The first time I met Leonardo, I told him that for Chinese directors, you are both loved and hated."

"The hate is because the 359 million box office record of 'Titanic' has loomed over our heads for too long."

Facing the murmurs and focused gazes from the audience, Boss Lu lifted the microphone with a serious expression.

"We returned from our roadshow in Japan and South Korea half a month ago."

"In 1998, Hollywood's 'Titanic' swept the world, becoming the box office champion in the film history of China, Japan, and South Korea."

"But after six or seven years of development, this year South Korea's 'Taegukgi' has broken this seal, and Japan's 'Spirited Away' replaced 'Titanic' two years ago."

"Only us, a country with 1.3 billion people, can only be called a small film country now."

"Even though 'Foreign Land' is already what I consider a perfect work, it is still very difficult to break the 359 million record, but I still want to try, even if I fail, it doesn't matter."

"I believe that all domestic directors, regardless of which generation, whether they are art-house or commercial directors, are determined in their hearts to break this barrier of fate; if it doesn't work this time, then next time, if ten times don't work, then twenty times."

Boss Lu's voice suddenly became impassioned: "I believe that as long as we have the spirit of the Foolish Old Man removing the mountains, rewriting this record is not a very distant thing. Please support us, all fans and friends, thank you!"

After the astronomical figure of 359 million, there was the 250 million of 'Hero' in 2002, a difference of more than 100 million.

In later generations, the first to break this record was the "unfairly won" 'The Founding of a Republic', but the record didn't last long before it was broken by '2012'.

Then came the well-known 'Avatar', which emerged and swept the world film scene just like 'Titanic' did back then.

The applause from the audience was like thunder; even if they despised this young director's indiscretions in every aspect, no domestic director could surpass him in film artistic attainment, sensitivity to commercial film, and appeal.

Han Han Shanping, Li Li Shoucheng, Liu Liu Yifei, and other insiders who knew he had arranged for ticket inspectors finally understood his deep intentions.

From the carefully arranged premiere time, the two-month advertising bombardment starting from Cannes in May, to the relentless repeated hype on internet media.

Including strict anti-piracy and pre-emptive measures against box office theft, it was a full-force, violent charge from the very beginning!

At this moment, in a place with iconic significance like the Great Hall of the People, such a deafening oath seemed a bit ridiculous yet cute.

Dreams still need to be had; what if they come true?

After the premiere, film critics, media reporters, and the audience began to rave about it crazily.

About that 8-meter-long ice sculpture, about the brilliance of 'Foreign Land', and about Lu Kuan's ambition.

Just like blockbusters that swept the world like 'Titanic' and 'Avatar', 'Foreign Land' naturally received rave reviews in the mainland.

Especially the Chinese cultural elements embedded cleverly in the film, which were not forcibly integrated like some co-productions or Hollywood films.

Instead, they truly served the plot and the theme.

Of course, stubborn film critics like Zhu Zhu Dake and Huang Huang Shixian did not let Boss Lu off the hook.

The livelier the scene, the more prominent their dissenting voices became.

【Zhu Zhu Dake】: A craftsmanship work pandering to special effects and capital, even inferior to the previous 'Drummer' and 'Thief'; it can only be said to echo the entertainment-to-death spirit of commercial films he himself blindly promotes—a tragedy of the era.

What shocked the audience the most was that Jia Jia Kezhang also jumped out, harshly criticizing 'Foreign Land' for its frequent 90%+ screen share.

He claimed on his blog that 'Foreign Land' is the Film Bureau's favorite child, monopolizing the entire month's film market—this is the darkest moment for the order of domestic films!

Jia Jia Kezhang was actually just trying to piggyback on the hype; after his rant, the screen share for his film 'The World' obviously improved a bit, although not much—the theaters were just showing a token of respect!

Opponents were a minority after all; more audiences brought better word-of-mouth fermentation, even praising Boss Lu himself like a flower.

"The savior of the Chinese film industry!"

"The revival director who saved the sinking Shenzhou!"

"God took only six days to create the world; on the seventh day, go watch Lu Kuan's movie!"

Even the Film Bureau's official blog personally joined in: "Mountains and rivers in 'Foreign Land', wind and moon under the same sky; excellent films are appreciated by the whole world. Thanks to Director Lu Kuan for the visual feast!"

This was a favor Boss Lu had with Director Tong, and also Old Han's push behind the scenes.

Starting from Boss Lu's bold words, the national box office and theaters perked up, working together to fight piracy and box office theft, and also trying their best to accommodate screen scheduling.

However, this accommodation was a bit reluctant; after all, the global box office and word-of-mouth for 'Foreign Land' were huge hits, and they couldn't afford not to make money.

The power of the system is enormous; the next day, the first-day screen share for 'Foreign Land' reached 93%.

Even more than the 90% of 'Hero' two years ago and the later 'Avatar'!

Coupled with the increase in the number of screens brought about by the hot money Boss Lu's butterfly wings brought into the market over the past two years.

As the saying goes, when the time comes, heaven and earth work together; the first-day box office on July 22nd was released, and the figure of 17.33 million swept away the hunger!

Previously, although fans, passersby, media reporters, and the audience all greatly admired Boss Lu's ambition to surpass 'Titanic'.

But once this first-day box office came out, everyone was surprised to find that it was actually possible!

Thus, word-of-mouth and advertising effects continued to ferment, and the average screen share reached more than 95%!

Even a considerable number of theaters completely leaned towards 'Foreign Land', simply pulling all other films off the shelves.

For a time, the story of "Luoyang paper becoming expensive" reappeared; the average ticket price rose from 40 to 50, 75, 80, and even exceeded 100 yuan in several high-end theaters in Beiping, driven by scalpers!

The second day, 20.25 million, creating the first film in domestic history to break the 20 million mark in a single day;

The third day, 19.77 million, creating the fastest record for breaking 50 million in domestic box office;

The fourth day, 17.56 million.

A week later, Old Han called Boss Lu at the Che Dun Film Studio set.

"One piece of good news, one piece of bad news."

"Did it break 100 million?"

Han Han Shanping chuckled: "The good news is easy to guess, and you must have an idea about the bad news."

Boss Lu was speechless: "Tell me, HD version or cam version?"

"Cam version."

"Damn! These dogs, no matter how we defend, we can't stop them!"

Even though nearly 1,000 ticket inspectors were arranged nationwide to patrol and stay at stations, a cam version still leaked out before even a week had passed.

Ticket inspectors are responsible for ticket checking before entering, counting the number of people during the film screening, and incidentally patrolling to see if anyone is carrying photography equipment to film secretly.

Tibetan mastiff turned into a lick dog?

Han Han Shanping is now obedient to Boss Lu: "Lu Kuan, what should we do now?"

"To be honest, there's no way."

"Movie tickets are being scalped too high; on one hand, it shows the movie is good and the market is hot, but on the other hand, many viewers will be deterred."

"Plus, the cinema equipment in small cities is simple and the experience is poor, so ordinary people don't have much desire to walk into a cinema; the cam version should be a resource leaked from second- and third-tier cities."

The key is that we can't take the initiative to speak out and appeal, otherwise those who didn't know about piracy will be waiting to watch it too.

Boss Lu waited for a few days, until the "Red Hacker Group" specifically pulled out by the blog network to help with anti-piracy discovered the trend of the cam version spreading on the internet, only then did he launch a series of anti-rat operations.

Including but not limited to directly hacking websites and mobilizing influential entertainment figures in the circle to appeal online.

The most active was Little Liu, who, following Lu Kuan's instructions, launched a reward-for-reporting campaign on the blog network!

Report a pirate website and directly receive signed t-shirts and 'Foreign Land' merchandise by mail, and then hand over the URL to the blog network's Red Hacker Group for a one-minute kill.

Two days later, the box office slowdown caused by the appearance of the cam version resources was lifted, and the growth rate continued to head upwards!

(End of chapter)