novelslam Chapter 138 It still has to be you.
Chapter 138 It still has to be you.
Not long after Lu Yang left the office, carrying those dozen or so pages of the "Brotherhood of Blades" outline, he seemed to float away.
The opening week box office figures for "Aftershock" are in – 1.6 million yuan!
The media across mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong are now praising Gu Heng to the skies from every angle.
There's no way around it, this film is just too hard, so hard that it leaves you speechless.
China has never lacked great directors, but when you ask them to make patriotic films, the ideas are good and the films are well-made, but the box office is just not high.
Let them make commercial films, and then they keep churning out all sorts of mysterious art, which is what they call "you don't understand, this is art".
Gu Heng has managed to mix commercial film elements, patriotic themes, and earthquake and disaster prevention safety education into a single, inefficient and hierarchical narrative.
Individually, everyone can understand it, but put together, this formula in the current domestic film industry can only be described in two words.
Unfamiliar! Absolutely unfamiliar!
Even Han Sanping, the bandit leader of China Film Group, was so excited after reading the data report for the first week that he made a phone call to Gu Heng's phone in the middle of the night.
"Little Gu, you're on the right track! I've been thinking about making a real patriotic film lately, and once the script is finished, you absolutely have to come and give me some guidance, no refusing!"
What could Gu Heng say?
Since Third Master had spoken, we could only agree repeatedly.
He knew perfectly well that the patriotic film Han Sanping was referring to was most likely "The Founding of a Republic".
Going out and showing your face to a few people would be absolutely beneficial and harmless.
Of course, what pleased Gu Heng the most was that the personal message he had included in his film had worked.
The earthquake preparedness and self-rescue knowledge presented in the movie has been thoroughly popularized through media reports and word-of-mouth from viewers.
The discussion was heated among netizens on various forums, and schools across the country began to spontaneously organize earthquake drills.
That's enough. All his efforts over the past few months haven't been in vain!
As soon as the film grossed 1.6 million in its first week, the so-called math gurus and film critics in the industry immediately swarmed out and began frantically predicting the film's final outcome.
"Given the current trend, 3 million is definitely a sure thing!"
"What's 3 million? I think it'll be at least 3.5 million!"
There are all sorts of opinions, but without exception, everyone knows that this kid is about to break the domestic box office record.
Time flies, and it's already early April.
The key for "Aftershock" has expired, and the film is no longer showing.
When the final box office figures were released, the entire entertainment industry, and even the financial industry, fell silent.
4.7 billion!
Good heavens, that's 4.7 million!
It's worth noting that Zhang Yimou's "Hero," which ushered in the era of Chinese blockbusters, only grossed 2.5 million yuan, while Feng Xiaogang was just basking in the glory of "Assembly" with its 2.6 million yuan.
Faced with these numbers, 4.7 million is an insurmountable gap!
Gu Heng has become the first and only VIP member of the 4 million yuan director club in China.
The media has gone completely mad.
A newspaper in southern China, known for its sensationalist reporting, ran a headline on its front page: "Gu Heng Ushers in a New Era for Chinese Film Box Office!"
Even more outrageous were the tabloids that, in their eagerness to stir up trouble, secretly wrote a press release with the gist of it: the old king is old, a new king should be established.
The fifth-generation directors should take a break; the future belongs to Gu Heng!
Those bastards are truly insidious!
In the president's office of Vision Entertainment, Gu Heng looked at the newspaper on the table, rolling his eyes in anger.
"Is this supposed to be a compliment? This is clearly an attempt to put me on the spot!"
Gu Heng tossed the newspaper aside and turned to Su Qing, who was sitting on the opposite sofa, instructing, "Sister Qing, quickly get the PR department to get some media outlets we know to release press releases to cool things down. Write it as discreetly as possible, just say we benefited from the subject matter, and absolutely do not try to elevate one while putting down the other. If we keep praising them like this, I'm afraid I'll get a sack of potatoes thrown at me when I go out!"
Su Qing looked incredibly capable in her business attire. She knew the cutthroat world of this industry all too well, and immediately nodded, "Don't worry, boss, I've already had someone suppress it. But boss, it's easy to silence outside gossip, but you can't silence those capitalists waving their money around."
As Su Qing said, capital doesn't care whether you keep a low profile or not; capital only sees the bloody profits!
In a short time, all sorts of capital, both well-known and unknown, poured money into the film and television industry.
In just half a month, the number of film projects submitted for approval by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has exploded.
The daily phone calls to the front desk of Vision Entertainment are enough to shatter the operator's eardrums. They're all from people seeking cooperation with Gu Heng.
One day, a nouveau riche coal mine owner called Su Qing directly, yelling in a thick accent, "Tell Director Gu that if he's willing to make a movie for me, I'll choose the female lead, and the rest is up to him. I'll give him 5 million! If that's not enough, 6 million is negotiable!"
Gu Heng took a sip of tea and sneered, "Ignore him, let him get as far away as possible."
That year, a domestic company spent 5 million yuan to make a movie; who knows if that money was legitimate or not.
In relationships, some people drift apart as time goes by.
In the entertainment industry, some people end up in jail while filming.
"Also," Gu Heng tapped the table, "tell your subordinates to behave themselves lately. If any problems arise, terminate their contracts and let them go."
"Understood, boss. I'll go and give them a talking-to right away."
After recounting these mundane details of the industry, Gu Heng felt a headache coming on, so he simply skipped work and went straight back to his courtyard house.
Pushing open the door, Gu Heng immediately saw Yang Mi, that little fox, squatting at the bottom of the steps, clumsily feeding a skinny kitten.
She found the kitten on her way home a while ago. The kitten was so dirty that even its own mother couldn't recognize it, and Yang Mi took it home because she felt sorry for it.
Yang Mi, holding a sausage in her hand, muttered, "Xiao Hei, eat more. You're too thin now. How will you help me deal with Gu Heng in the future?"
Gu Heng chuckled, leaning against the doorframe and laughingly scolding, "I'm the one taking care of Xiao Hei's eating, drinking, and toileting. Who knows who'll be on top of whom in the end!"
Upon hearing Gu Heng's voice, Yang Mi happily turned her head and made a face.
"Then you and I will deal with Gu Heng together!"
Gu Heng: ...
It has to be you.