Chapter 405: Repeated Blows
“Is there really such a big gap between Passengers and Future Cops?”

Big? Huge is not enough to describe it.

Fan Qiaoqiao didn't know how to describe it to Mu Xiaoguang.

Liu Dehua asked her just now, and Wang Jing also called to ask indirectly.

But she still has the basic qualities of an actor, so how could she reveal too much? She could only answer the two of them vaguely.

"You'll know it when it premieres. I'll just say a little bit and you'll pretty much understand it."

"Brother Chen never asked me about "Future Police" from beginning to end."

Mu Xiaoguang understood that this meant that Wang Jing was not taken seriously at all.

"From what you said, I am really looking forward to this movie 'Passengers' more and more!"

"Qiaoqiao, perhaps this movie "Passengers" will bring you unexpected gains." Mu Xiaoguang's eyes lit up.

Fan Qiaoqiao's eyes were also full of brilliance.

At midnight that evening, "Avatar" began to be released nationwide.

Starting from the moment of midnight, "Avatar", which had been in the making for 10 years, started its unreasonable record-breaking journey around the world as the first imported blockbuster in 2010.

The global box office of "Avatar" has now exceeded $10 billion.

The eight major cinema chains in China all had their eyes wide open, watching to see how much "Avatar" would earn on its first day in China.

This 10 billion bet is closely related to their concerns.

Even Li Chen's subordinates like Yang Siwei were completely sleepless and tossed and turned.

Only Li Chen was exhausted by Ms. Liu and fell into a deep sleep.

“1月4日是传奇科幻巨制《阿凡达》正式上映的第一天。据院线方面估计，该片仅零点场票房就有约400万，超越暑期档《变形金刚2》的350万。”

"The midnight match set a domestic record!"

"According to incomplete statistics, on January 1, there were 4 cinemas in Beijing showing Avatar with 54 screenings, which exceeded the total number of screenings of all other films."

"The midnight premiere at the Beijing Wanda CBD store had a 100% attendance rate, and the 3 a.m. show had a 60% attendance rate."

"In Beijing, the number of screenings of Avatar on January 1 exceeded the total number of screenings of all other films, while the second-ranked film, The Siege of the City of War, had less than 4 screenings."

"It's only about one-fifth of Avatar. Zhang Yimou's Three Guns was even abandoned by WanDa and several theaters in Guangdong. This is the first time that Zhang Yimou's work has not completed its entire theatrical run."

"According to industry insiders, the box office of Avatar at midnight and on the first day exceeded 3500 million. Driven by it, the domestic box office on Monday reached an all-time high of 3500 million."

"According to this trend, Avatar will most likely surpass 2.5 million yuan on Wednesday and million yuan in its first week, creating a new miracle for Chinese films!"

Early in the morning, the Internet was full of news about "Avatar", and the opening ceremony of Zhizhen Painting Art was overshadowed.

The audience who watched the premiere praised "Avatar" generously, and many netizens criticized "Three Guns" harshly.

There is no harm without comparison.

“Breathtaking visuals!”

"Avatar and the Na'vi are not like computer characters at all. They are real people."

"After telling a story of beautiful love, Cameron told a story of caring on a higher level; while Zhang Yimou just hired a few crosstalk actors to sell a bowl of oil-splashed noodles."

"It's nothing more than a charlatan's trick, making all of us who went to the cinema for Zhang Yimou's new film feel fooled!"

“It was clearly just a fight against demolition, but it had an epic and majestic feel.”

"Cameron created a planet, it was like a dream, and now it's back to Earth. I'm impressed."

The audience burst into praise.

The eight major cinema chains breathed a collective sigh of relief: only 3500 million on the first day, not bad, not bad, it’s awesome.

When Li Chen woke up, the Avatar effect had already begun to appear.

Filmmakers, writers, and businessmen are all busy.

"The director of 2012 could only kowtow after watching Avatar. -- Kong Chi-Chung, President of Island Entertainment Group."

"This is a great movie. I give Avatar full marks - Han Han."

Damn it, it was agreed that it’s my turn now. Lao Jiang, Ah Han, why don’t you have any moral principles?
It's so great to have a cinema, Lao Jiang? I'm going to watch it right now.

After reading it, Taro racked his brains and vowed to regain his position as the top decision-maker in the domestic entertainment industry.

But how should he perform? Taro was scratching his head anxiously.

Ahhh, good wind comes with its power, helping my Taro to soar to the sky.

Taro kept shouting in his heart.

Maybe Taro has been suppressed for too long.

From being made to cry by Jiang Wen to having Nan Jing taken away by Li Chen, she also fell out of favor with Han Sanping.

Taro was so miserable, so he went for a big one this time and almost lost himself.

"I am ashamed! This is a complete defeat that we Chinese filmmakers have to collectively witness and accept! I can't help but worry that domestic films will either make progress or regress and lose to foreign forces - Director Lu Chuan."

I saw that my blog post quickly became a hot topic on portal headlines and Weibo.

With an excited heart and trembling hands, Taro's green eyes didn't even blink.

"Stay away and don't hurt your eyes," Ms. Qin advised softly.

When he got up in the morning, the man went out like the wind, saying he was going to see Avatar, but came back like the wind.

She even doubted whether he had finished watching the whole movie. Wasn't Avatar nearly three hours long?

It took him less than two hours to go there and back.

As soon as I came back, it was like I was stuck in front of the computer screen.

Taro's blog is full of shame, concern for the country and the people, and he also quoted Jiang Zhiqiang's "kneeling" theory.

This immediately triggered a controversy.

Netizens gave him a heavy blow first, which made Taro confused.

"He thinks he is Leo, Zhang Yimou, or the great director Kai Ge."

"Give us Chinese filmmakers back. May I ask who Lu Chuan is? A master of plagiarism? An expert in Japanese wash? Calling him 'our Chinese filmmakers' is just putting gold on their faces."

"You are so concerned about the country and the people. If you don't know me, you might think I am Lu You! You are just an ordinary person. Don't take yourself too seriously."

How could this happen? Taro was in a state of collapse. I just wanted to liven up the atmosphere and get some love from Avatar.

Do you have to be so serious about it?

Soon, Taro found himself being despised by his fellow bosses.

Compared with Taro, this speech controversy did not affect other domestic directors.

Everyone basically does what they are supposed to do.

Feng Xiaogang is currently doing post-production for the disaster film "Aftershock", which he has just completed.

Staff members around him revealed that Director Feng is so busy with his own movies that he has no time to watch other movies.

First-class architect and director Kai Ge is even busier.

According to insiders, Lao Chen is busy with the first large-scale live performance reflecting the beautiful scenery of Yunnan.

He also had to prepare for "The Orphan of Zhao", and the entire Orphan of Zhao City had not yet been completed.

The poet not only had to act as a foreman to supervise the progress of the project, but also had to be busy looking for the male and female lead actors.

He hasn’t even watched “The King’s Avatar” and “Three Guns”, so how can he have the time to watch “Avatar”!
Li Chen's new company had just opened, and he was so busy that he couldn't be contacted at all.

The horrific screening rates of major theaters directly led to the withdrawal of "Three Guns", "Storm 2" and "刺陵" from the theaters one after another.

"Three Guns" eventually earned 2.1 million yuan at the box office and made a lot of money.

Insiders revealed that the cost of "Three Guns" was only 3000 million, and the actual cost was probably around 2000 million.

"Feng Yun 2" and "刺陵" were equally good, each earning more than million, and lost all the money.

Li Chen accompanied Miss Liu to Wanda in CBD to watch the IMAX version of "Avatar". After coming out and getting in the car, the two took off their masks and smiled at each other.

"It seems, it doesn't seem like it. It's not as mysterious as they say on the Internet, right?" Miss Liu said uncertainly.

It was really the praises from industry insiders such as Lu Chuan, Jiang Zhiqiang, Han Hanning and Caishen that captivated her.

That's why I couldn't wait to drag my fiancé to take a look.

Maybe it's because I've been with my fiancé for a long time that my horizons have broadened a lot.

The drama was good to watch, but it didn't make her want to marry him after watching it.

"The core of the story is ordinary, but it is packaged in a high-tech way to make it attractive."

"Xixi, you have to believe in yourself and dare to question authority. Besides, they are just a drop in the ocean."

"It can't represent Chinese filmmakers." Li Chen encouraged his fiancée while holding her hand.

Driver Lao Liu basically never interrupts the conversation between the boss and the boss's wife.

This time, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Miss, what the gentleman said is true. Apart from the gentleman, I'm afraid Zhang Yimou is the only one who is qualified to be an authority in the film industry."

Li Chen ignored Lao Liu: "Listen, Lao Liu, this is the real insight."

Liu Yifei snorted and laughed: "Got it, authority!"

After New Year's Day, the two began to get busy again, with Miss Liu busy participating in various activities.

Li Chen was also busy with his painting skills.

Li Chen plans to hand over the management of Zhizhen Painting Art to Wu Bin. His nine-month trip to Hollywood is not just a tour.

It turned out that his position was taken over by Yu Miao.

“The top priority now is to improve the company structure as quickly as possible.”

"Don't worry, Director Li, I've already been looking for talent in various colleges and universities, and I've also hired a headhunter."

“At the opening reception that day, Director Tian and Dean Sun also expressed their strong support for our art of painting.”

"Dean Sun Lijun of the Animation School?"

"Yes, that's him. He looked at our equipment and environment, and jokingly told me that his lifelong dream is animation, and he really wants to quit his job at the school to work for you."

"Did you tell him we were going to make a cartoon?"

"Without your approval, I would never disclose company secrets. I just said I had this intention."

After Li Chen finished explaining the work to Wu Bin, he remembered that Jiang Wen had invited him to visit the set that day, so he called Jiang Wen.

When Jiang Wen heard that he was coming, he immediately asked him to come quickly.

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Wen said to himself: I finally tricked you into coming here.

Then he told his wife to notify the media.

If he hadn't taken this opportunity to build momentum for his movie "Let the Bullets Fly", the media would probably have forgotten who Jiang Wen was.

"Avatar" was released on Monday, January 1th, and a week has passed.

On Saturday, January 1, "Avatar" set the highest single-day box office record in mainland China with a single-day box office of 9 million.

Soon after, it broke the weekly box office record again with a box office of 2.7 million yuan in the mainland in its first week.

The industry was amazed.

The eight major cinema chains are still as stable as old dogs.

The latest data shows that the film's North American box office has reached 4.85 million US dollars and the global box office is 14.3 billion US dollars.

It is only $5.08 million away from the overall champion "Titanic".

Judging from the film's current box office trends in mainland China, industry insiders generally believe that the box office of "Avatar" is expected to exceed 5 million yuan.

The film will be released for two months, and it is not ruled out that it will be released after the end of February.

Therefore, whether the film can hit the mainland box office of 6.8 million US dollars, or million RMB, will become the biggest suspense.

As for the billion-dollar bet, it's time to cool down Leo.

This is the consensus of the industry. The media were scratching their heads anxiously, and wanted to ask the parties involved in the billion-dollar bet what they thought.

I was hoping Li Chen could respond to Taro’s controversial remarks about America.

Both Chen Kaige and Feng Xiaogang responded directly with two words: busy!

But the two leaders, Li Chen and Zhang Yimou, have not spoken yet.

As a result, after hearing the news from the crew of Let the Bullets Fly, Li Chen visited the set of Let the Bullets Fly today.

The media immediately rushed to Huairou from all directions like hungry wolves.

"Boss, are you going to the crew of Let the Bullets Fly?"

"You are very sharp-eyed and sharp-eared. How did you know that?"

Yang Siwei was speechless: "Boss, everyone on earth knows it, okay?"

"I heard that it was the crew of Let the Bullets Fly that spread the rumor."

When Yang Siwei heard this, she immediately thought that her boss might have been fooled by Jiang Wen.

In the end, ginger or Wen is spicier.

When she first heard that Jiang Wen had tricked Ge You and Chow Yun-fat into coming by using the empty city stratagem, she didn't believe it.

Now she believes it.
Li Chen figured it out after a little thought. No wonder Jiang Wen invited him to visit the set again and again.

He just wanted me to give him some free publicity and support before the filming was completed.

What a good Jiang Wen! He is forcing someone to do something he is not prepared for.

Bah, bah, bah, he is the duck!
"Okay, I got it." Li Chen hung up the phone with Yang Siwei.

Yang Siwei was speechless for a long time. What do you mean? I know?

"Let the Bullets Fly" is indeed good, and there is nothing wrong with standing up for Jiang Wen.

Li Chen's mind is not that narrow.

I'm just really annoyed at being used as a gun by this old guy, so I have to teach him a lesson today.

Arrived at Qingshiling Village in Huairou.

Jiang Wen and Zhou Yun came forward together.

"Hahaha, we finally invited you here!" Jiang Wen, dressed in gray military uniform, gave Li Chen a big hug.

"I hope this isn't a trap!" Li Chen and Zhou Yun shook hands and snorted.

Jiang Wen laughed, knowing that the media’s matter would definitely not be hidden from the octopus-like Li Chen.

He simply admitted it openly: "I was the one who leaked the news to the media."

"It's not easy to invite a big shot like you, so I have to make the best use of you, right?"

Zhou Yun was afraid that Li Chen would get upset, so he quickly said, "Director Li, please don't mind. Old Jiang is so happy that you can come."

"Haha, come on, let's go inside and talk." Jiang Wen hugged Li Chen and strode towards the crew.

Liu Jialing, Ge Youmiaopu and others are here.

I didn’t see Chow Yun-fat, perhaps because he didn’t have any scenes in Qingshiling.

"Our director Li is here, welcome, welcome." Ge You looked cunning and dressed like a legal advisor.

No one dared to mention the 10 billion bet.

Even Jiang Wen refused to mention this matter, for fear that Li Chen would lose face.

"Welcome Director Li." Liu Jialing and Li Chen shook hands.

Jiang Wen glanced at the eight-year-old giant baby not far away, and a bold idea popped up in his mind.

He immediately smiled and said, "How about it, are you interested in playing a cameo role?"

Li Chen refused without even thinking: "Dream on!"

Hahaha. Ge You and Jiang Wen both burst into laughter.

Liu Jialing and Zhou Yun also covered their mouths and laughed.

Jiang Wen sighed inwardly, it would be great if Li Chen could play Miao Pu's son 'eight years old'.

"Let's not talk about it for now. Let my wife stay with you. Once I get through these, the media will be here and we won't have time."

Zhou Yun kicked Jiang Wen lightly. What nonsense are you talking about!
Let my wife accompany you. Li Chen felt weird when he heard this.

Jiang Wen also reacted and laughed, "Oh, what are you thinking? I meant for you to watch the show with him!"

"Let the Bullets Fly" is indeed a good movie, the casting and acting are all top-notch.

Miao Pu, who plays the role of the 'eight-year-old' mother, brings this stupid-looking woman to life.

This short passage alone is filled with doubts and leaves one with endless aftertaste.

"What do you think? Feng Xiaogang has called out a slogan of 500 million, so mine isn't bad either!" Jiang Wen said carelessly, his face full of confidence.

In fact, Jiang Wen was just trying to be brave at the moment, as he still cared a lot about Li Chen's opinion.

Li Chen glanced at him, drank a sip of water slowly, and deliberately hung him up.

Jiang Wen was so anxious that he couldn't sit still.

"Five hundred million! Humph!" Li Chen said disdainfully.

When Jiang Wen and Ge You and the others heard this, their expressions changed immediately, and they felt extremely heavy in their hearts.

But then Li Chen gasped again and said, "You are just that capable. After all, you have won the Cannes Jury Prize and the Best Actor and Best Actress awards."

"The investment is no less than that of Earthquake, and the cast is even better than that of Earthquake."

"Sister-in-law, did your husband have his guts cut out?"

Jiang Wen laughed out loud, feeling relieved, and didn't care about Li Chen's retaliation at all.

Zhou Yun smiled gently and said, "That's right. I don't know why I was so blind to follow him."

Ge You also smiled and said, "It seems that Director Li is very optimistic about us."

Jiang Wen said confidently: "Of course, I, Jiang Wen, will not learn from Zhang Yimou and let the producer coerce me."

Zhou Yun glared at Jiang Wen and winked at her husband.

Don't get too carried away, not everyone here is yours.

Jiang Wen didn't care at all. Like Li Chen, he was the master of Nezha's Trouble in the Dragon King.

"By the way, what you meant just now is that the box office of my movie is more than 500 million?"

This aroused everyone's interest.

Li Chen nodded: "A glimpse of the whole picture can reveal the whole picture."

"I just watched this short clip. Add in your cast and your Jiang Wen brand name, and if it works well, you can get at least 500 million guaranteed."

The minimum guarantee was another 500 million, and everyone looked at each other, feeling a little uneasy.

The 500 million guarantee made by Li Chen and Yu Dong is still fresh in our memory.

It has almost become synonymous with Li Chen.

The 1 billion bet seemed to be dead, and the 500 million guarantee was even more illusory.

However, Jiang Wen is confident that his "Let the Bullets Fly" cannot be compared with Li Chen's "Charlotte".

Jiang Wen laughed and changed the subject, "If you can give me a whole theme song, then the minimum guarantee is 600 million."

"Are you right?"

Li Chen ignored Jiang Wen and said to Zhou Yun, "Sister-in-law, take Comrade Jiang to see a neurosurgeon when you have time. He probably has a broken head."

"I was daydreaming."

As everyone was enjoying themselves, a man came running over from a distance and said that the media had arrived.

Jiang Wen asked people to let the media in to visit the set, and then hugged Li Chen: "Say something nice, and I'll buy you a drink tonight!"

"Forget it. Since you're here, I won't ruin your show. Forget the wine."

"Hahaha, fine. If the box office exceeds 500 million, I'll give you a big red envelope."

"By the way, I'm afraid the media will definitely ask about Avatar later. The guy you made cry has been very active recently. Do you want to make him cry again?"

Li Chen just asked Jiang Wen who he was, and he immediately understood.

He just made Lu Chuan cry, but Li Chen beat Lu Chuan to the ground, which was much more cruel than him.

"Sure, even though I didn't see it, it wouldn't be hard to make him cry again."

The media swarmed towards Jiang Wen and Li Chen like a flood.

When he opens his mouth, he is a king.

"Director Li, Director Jiang, what do you think of the recent film Avatar?"

"Director Lu Chuan said that all Chinese filmmakers should feel ashamed. Are you two ashamed?"

Ge You unconsciously moved his butt a little further away from the two of them, fearing that he would be affected.

He knew Jiang Wen too well. He was the typical person who would never give in even if he was right.

Meeting Li Chen, a famous director with a sharp tongue who can make people want to die with just one sentence, is like meeting a talented person.

Sure enough, Jiang Wen fired the first shot.

"Haha, why should I be ashamed? Let the Bullets Fly is not necessarily worse than Avatar."

Listen, Jiang Wen is so confident that Li Chen's heart is beating fast.

However, the Douban score of "Let the Bullets Fly" is indeed higher than that of "Avatar".

"The Americans may be better at technology, but we also have our strengths."

"The word 'self-deprecation' has never appeared in my dictionary. How about you, Director Li?"

Jiang Wen laughed and handed the knife to Li Chen.

Jiang Wen is quite gentle. It seems that I have to deal the fatal blow to Taro, Li Chen thought to himself.

"In the last century, even the mushroom cloud in the US didn't scare our revolutionary ancestors. How can people of my generation bow down and kneel down for a movie?"

"I'm sorry, as the old saying goes, a man should be strong and it's enough to kneel before heaven and earth and his parents."

"It's his business if he likes to kneel. He can't represent Chinese filmmakers. He can only represent himself."

Ge You moved his butt unconsciously again.

The media were petrified.

Everyone in the field was stunned.

Only Jiang Wen laughed out loud: "Well said!"

"Director Li, the 'he' you are talking about is Director Lu Chuan?"

A female reporter wanted to stick her body close to Li Chen and put the microphone into Li Chen's mouth.

"It's still referring to Han Han, Jiang Zhiqiang and others." A male reporter was afraid that the matter would not get out of hand.

"Whoever is ashamed knows it, and whoever likes to kneel can kneel." Li Chen did not give a direct answer, but the answer was already very clear.

"I, Li Chen, don't have the time to flirt and be sad."

"Avatar has only made me see the unlimited potential of our country's market, and I believe Hollywood and the world have also seen it."

"This is a crisis but also an opportunity. Challenges and opportunities coexist."

"What we need to do is to face up to the gap, make the best of our strengths and overcome our weaknesses, and not regard worshipping foreign things as our character or fawning on foreigners as our personality!"

"It's been a hundred years since people cut off their braids. How come Avatar has brought back the braids in some people's hearts?"

Even Jiang Wen couldn't laugh this time.

Didn’t we agree today to support his movie “Let the Bullets Fly”?
Why does it seem to have gone astray?
(End of this chapter)