Chapter 302: Release Date and Promotion
While Liu Zhou and Zhang Weiping were chatting, Zhang Yimou also roughly glanced through the script.

Zhang Yimou closed the last page, breathed a sigh of relief, and said:
"Director Liu, you have a really amazing brain. You can actually think of combining cloning technology with science fiction."

At this time, cloning technology is a very popular technology.

After British biologists cloned Dolly the sheep in 1996, the topic of human cloning has become an enduring topic.

Many people may not know what cloning means, but they have all heard of human cloning.

So now Liu Zhou came up with a script related to cloning, and combined it with science fiction to explore human nature, which really made Zhang Yimou feel very surprised.

If he had been thinking about giving the science fiction film a try before, now after reading the script, Zhang Yimou really wants to make a good movie.

"What does Director Zhang think?" Liu Zhou asked with a smile.

"Very good, very good, I want to start filming this movie now."

Seeing how impatient Lao Mouzi was, Liu Zhou couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth slightly.

For a more pure filmmaker, nothing is more exciting than seeing prey.

"There's no need to rush into filming. I think Director Zhang should take a good rest first."

"I don't need to rest for too long, at most a week, I should be able to recover."

"Director Zhang, there's no need to be so anxious. The script is here and it won't change. Only after you have a good rest can you make a better movie.

And when you are resting, you can also learn about the filming of science fiction movies, so that you won’t be too busy when preparing for the movie.”

Zhang Yimou paused and said:

"You're right. This is my first time shooting a movie, so I really need to be more prepared."

Hearing Zhang Yimou say this, Liu Zhou couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart. This workaholic didn't understand the meaning of his words at all.

Liu Zhou wants him to take a rest before working, not to ask you to make full preparations for the shooting.

In this case, Liu Zhou is too lazy to worry about it anymore. You have such a lot of energy, so just do more work.

"Mr. Liu, since Yimou has agreed to direct this movie, can we work together like we did last time on Curse of the Golden Flower?"

Zhang Weiping doesn't care much about other things, he just hopes that the cooperation can be confirmed.

"no problem."

For the project of "Curse of the Golden Flower", Golden Harvest and New Picture each accounted for half of the investment. The former was responsible for the overseas distribution of the film, while the latter was responsible for the distribution in mainland China.

To be honest, Golden Harvest did take advantage of the "Curse of the Golden Flower" project and made a lot of money.

Therefore, giving Zhang Weiping a 50% investment share in "Moon" can be regarded as a return of favor.

What's more, since they have decided to invite Zhang Yimou to be the director of the film, new images are definitely necessary.

"Okay, Mr. Liu is quite straightforward, haha!"

"Mr. Zhang, since "Moon" is a project proposed by Golden Harvest, the distribution in mainland China cannot be undertaken by New Picture alone. We have to distribute it together."

"Of course, that's as it should be."

Zhang Weiping agreed without hesitation. He was very satisfied to get the co-distribution rights in the mainland. He originally thought that Liu Zhou would take all the distribution rights of the film.

"Okay, since Mr. Zhang is so straightforward, let's sign the contract once the budget for this movie is worked out, and then officially start the project preparations."

Shortly afterwards, Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping left Liu Zhou with happy faces.

Zhang Yimou was delighted to get a good script, while Zhang Weiping was happy to work with Liu Zhou again.

Through his one success after another, Liu Zhou has made everyone believe in his vision in movies. He gives people the feeling that he is a human money printing machine, and everyone wants to work with him.

But up to now, the only one who can really cooperate with him is China Film, and Emperor Entertainment Group was able to participate in "The Blade of Youth" just by chance.

As for the "Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff" project, it was just a coincidence that we all came together at that time.

Speaking of the project "Red Cliff", it was Liu Zhou who took the initiative to seek cooperation with Zhang Yimou.

Now that Liu Zhou is looking for Zhang Yimou to collaborate again, will "Moon" also be as popular as "Red Cliff"?
Thinking of this, Zhang Weiping couldn't help but feel a little excited.

After the two left, Liu Zhou also informed Zhang Zhao about the cooperation on "Moon" and asked him to arrange someone to follow up on this matter.

There is no need to rush the preparations for "Moon" for now, as it will take at least two months for the project to be officially launched.

The most important thing now is the promotion and release of "The Martian".

On August 26, Golden Harvest and China Film Group jointly announced that "The Martian" has been officially scheduled to be released nationwide on September 28.

As soon as the news came out, it immediately caused a heated discussion on the Internet, and offline media also began to report it.

"It's finally been released. Liu Zhou has been missing for nearly half a year. I thought he had forgotten about The Martian."

"I'm looking forward to it. I thought The Martian would be released during the Lunar New Year holiday, but I didn't expect it to be released during the National Day holiday. There's only one month left."

"How can a big production like The Martian be released during a short period like the National Day? It's a bit unscientific!" "Who cares if it's scientific or not? Isn't it better to release the movie earlier?"

“How come the release date was announced only a month in advance?”

"It's not important. What's important is that the domestic science fiction blockbuster that we've been looking forward to for a year is finally here!"

……

The mere announcement of a release date has stirred up quite a stir, which has shocked people in the industry.

To be honest, many people were also surprised why "The Martian" was released during the National Day holiday instead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

It’s not like they are afraid of “Battle of Guandu” and Feng Kuzi’s “If You Are the One”, right?

This seems impossible just by thinking about it.

Although "The Battle of Guandu" gathered several big stars from Hong Kong and had a great director like Wu Baige in charge, the lineup was indeed quite intimidating.

But when has Liu Zhou ever been afraid of anyone?
What's more, "The Martian" has attracted widespread attention since the project was launched, while the audience is already somewhat tired of costume blockbusters like "The Battle of Guandu".

As for Feng Kuzi's "If You Are the One", there is no need to mention it.

Feng Kuzi has never won against Liu Zhou. Does he expect to beat "The Martian" with "If You Are the One", which is a remake of Feng's comedy?
There's no way to win!
Even the tough-talking Feng Kuazi didn't dare to brag that he could win.

Even compared to "Battle of Guandu", people are not optimistic about "If You Are the One".

So with the popularity of Liu Zhou and "The Martian", it's not that he is afraid of anyone, but who is afraid of him.

When the Wang brothers of Huayi and Wu Kebo of Chengtian heard the news, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Previously, they had been worried whether "The Martian" would also be released during the Lunar New Year holiday, especially the Wang brothers, who had even prepared to adjust the release date.

Although this time "If You Are the One" is a Feng-style comedy carefully crafted by Feng Kuzi, it is ready to compete in the Lunar New Year box office again after a lapse of four years.

But even the Wang brothers did not have much confidence that such a comedy movie could compete with the two big productions.

If it was just "Battle of Guandu" it would be fine, but "If You Are the One" and it are two completely different types of movies, so even if there is an impact it will not be too big.

If "The Martian" is added to the mix, the two big productions will directly consume most of the box office potential of the Lunar New Year holiday.

By then, "If You Are the One" will most likely become cannon fodder.

Now that "The Martian" has not chosen to be released during the Lunar New Year holiday, everyone at Huayi has completely breathed a sigh of relief.

Then they felt that Liu Zhou was not ethical. Since he had decided to release the film during the National Day holiday, why didn't he announce the release date earlier and make them worry for so long in vain?

In fact, Liu Zhou did not intentionally announce the release date only now, but it is the first time in China to do special effects post-production for this kind of science fiction movie.

He was worried that something unexpected would happen along the way. What if the post-production time was longer than planned and couldn't be released in time for the National Day holiday? Wouldn't that be making a joke of the audience?
So after the finished film of "The Martian" came out and there were no unexpected events, Liu Zhou decided to officially announce the release date.

But no matter what, "The Martian" is now confirmed to be released during the National Day holiday, which has made some people feel relieved and made more people full of expectations.

As time gradually enters September, promotional materials for "The Martian" have begun to be released on a large scale.

Movie posters can be seen at bus stops, cinemas, and busy streets in big-box office cities.

A storm blew up on the orange-red to gray surface of Mars, with sand and rocks flying all over the sky.

Qin Hao, wearing a space suit and with a determined look on his face, stood in the storm with difficulty.

Almost all the viewers who saw the poster for the first time couldn't help but stay for two more seconds.

Someone also read out the two lines of promotional text on the poster:

"Rescue is only in space billions of kilometers away!"

"The Martian" September 28th, interstellar rescue, urgent!"

Some viewers who were unsure and worried that "The Martian" was a drama film under the guise of a sheep could not help but exclaimed after seeing the poster:

"There really was an accident on Mars!"

Now, they were finally relieved of their worries. After all, the big storm on the poster couldn't be fake.

This poster immediately made many viewers more excited and expectant.

There were even viewers who were both science fiction fans and Qin Hao fans, who secretly took down posters from the streets and collected them.

As the poster of the first domestic science fiction blockbuster in China, it is quite worth collecting, not to mention that it is starred by our idol.

As "The Martian" began to be promoted on a large scale, the popularity of the movie was getting higher and higher, and more and more people were looking forward to its release.

On September 10, Teacher's Day, "The Martian" released its first shocking trailer, adding fuel to the already high popularity.

Posters may be deceiving, but trailers never lie.

"The Martian" is a real hardcore science fiction movie, not a drama using science fiction as a gimmick!
(End of this chapter)