Chapter 391: The Twilight Saga: The Final Episode, The Sound of Wind: The Premiere

With the successful completion of the first roadshow for Jiahe Group's listing, news about Jiahe Group's upcoming listing has also become popular.

Normally, when a company goes public, unless it is a very well-known company, the relevant news will only be reported by media in the financial field.

The Golden Harvest Group is such a well-known company. In recent years, its brand image has become deeply rooted in people's hearts.

More importantly, the second richest man in mainland China, super popular director Liu Zhou, is the boss of this company, which makes Golden Harvest Group even more popular.

Therefore, the news that Jiahe started its roadshow and was about to go public quickly spread from the financial field to the entire Internet.

In addition, the debate between Liu Zhou and Wang Xiaoshuai at the Shanghai International Film Festival film forum was still heated, which further fueled the enthusiasm for Golden Harvest's listing.

This also made Golden Harvest Group the most popular player in the financial field and entertainment industry.

Not only investment institutions are looking forward to the arrival of August 26th, but many shareholders are also looking forward to Jiahe's listing.

This situation made the people at CITIC Securities smile from ear to ear. It was the first time for them to operate a company with such high popularity to go public, but they found that the underwriting of stocks was much simpler than before.

They felt that they had discovered a new direction. In the future, when operating the company to go public, large-scale publicity seemed to make the work easier, without having to do the data.

Let’s not talk about CITIC Securities for now. In addition to the listing of Golden Harvest and the commercial and artistic dispute between Liu Zhou and Wang Xiaoshuai in the entertainment industry, there is another matter related to Golden Harvest that is also very hot.

That is the tribute film produced by Golden Harvest Group, the spy war drama "The Sound of Wind" is about to be released.

The summer season is already halfway over, and after nearly a month of competition, the box office of many Hollywood blockbusters has become sluggish.

As expected, "Transformers 2" had the last laugh.

From its release on July 4.12nd to now July th, it has been showing for days and the box office has reached million.

Considering that the current daily box office is still two to three million, the final box office of "Transformers 2" is expected to be around 4.3 million.

"Transformers 2" also became the third movie in mainland China to break the million box office, the first two being "Red Cliff Part " and "The Martian".

In addition to "Transformers 2", another movie worth mentioning is "Twilight".

"Twilight" was officially released today, with a total box office of 1.4 million, surpassing other blockbusters such as Pixar's classic animation "Up" and Warner's "Harry Potter 6".

Among Hollywood blockbusters, its box office is second only to Transformers 2.

Hollywood movies cannot apply for extended release keys, so "Twilight" had to be taken off the screen after one month of release.

However, there is no need to postpone "Twilight". This kind of love movie does not have much stamina. The current single-day box office is less than 500,000, so there is no point in postponing it.

If a movie like "Transformers 2" had been postponed, its value would have been greater, at least it would have increased the box office by tens of millions, but there was no way around it, it had to be taken off the screen after a month.

Although 1.4 million RMB is only the box office result in mainland China, the fact that "Twilight" could surpass many blockbusters still surprised Hollywood.

"Twilight" has already entered the overseas market, and with the full distribution of Lionsgate and Golden Harvest International, the film has also achieved remarkable results overseas.

Adding up all regions, the total overseas box office is as high as 1.7 million US dollars. With the domestic box office of 2.1 million US dollars in North America, the total box office of "Twilight" has reached 3.8 million. There should be no problem in breaking million.

With a total box office of $400 million, if there were no blockbuster films following it, it would have ranked in the top five of this year's North American box office chart. If it were last year, it would have ranked in the top three.

The production cost of "Twilight" was only 30 million US dollars, and even with the publicity costs, it was only 70 million US dollars.

The box office revenue alone made Summit Entertainment a fortune, not to mention the even more lucrative revenue from other copyrights.

However, its greatest value is that it completely revitalized the "Twilight" series.

With such an excellent start with the first film, the box office performance of the following films would not be too bad unless they were really bad.

So now not only Universal and Paramount are interested in Summit Entertainment, but even Warner and Sony Columbia are also trying to acquire Summit Entertainment indirectly.

However, this was rejected by Liu Zhou. Currently, Summit Entertainment has focused its main attention on the movie "Lucy".

"Lucy" has now been completed and is in post-production. The film is scheduled to be released during the Christmas season in North America this year.

At the same time, Anthony Edwards has also begun arranging people to adapt the script of the second part of "Twilight", which is scheduled to start filming next year and will be released in the summer of the year after.

And it was on the night when "Twilight" was released that "The Sound of Wind" held its premiere at Golden Harvest International Cinemas in Beijing.

As the most anticipated domestic film of the summer season, its popularity quickly soared after Golden Harvest began promoting it.

In order to cooperate with Golden Harvest's listing, "The Whistleblower" also took on an important task, so the importance attached to "The Whistleblower" was no less than any previous blockbuster of Golden Harvest.

Zhang Zhao originally wanted to hold the premiere of "The Sound of Wind" in the Great Hall of the People or the CPPCC Auditorium, but was rejected by Liu Zhou.

Although "The Sound of Wind" is a tribute film, it still has some gap compared with those real blockbusters. Moreover, it would be too ostentatious and unnecessary.

Unlike previous years, when movie premieres were held in well-known venues or stadiums, nowadays, there is a return to basics, with more and more movie premieres being held in movie theaters.

However, although the premiere was held at Golden Harvest Cinemas, Golden Harvest also invited many guests from the circle to attend, so the popularity was not low at all.

That night, the entrance of the cinema was filled with fans and there were also many reporters.

The movie "The Sound of Wind" was supported at the box office by Fan Xiaopang and Zhou Gongzi. As for the director Chen Guofu, almost few people in the outside world knew him. Even if they knew him, it was because he was Liu Nuoying's ex-boyfriend.

In the first decade of the new century, directors' box office appeal was stronger than that of actors.

As soon as Zhang Yimou and Chen Shishi's movies are released, scalpers will appear and there will be long queues to buy tickets during prime time in the first three days.

Can the top Chinese actors such as Cheng Long, Li Lianjie, Chow Yun-fat and Stephen Chow do it?
No!

If they don't make movies directed by several big directors, the box office ceiling will barely exceed 100 million.

Li Lianjie's "Huo Yuanjia" will gross just over 100 million.

Cheng Long's two consecutive films, "The Myth" and "Baby Project", were both stuck at the 1 million mark, just a few million short.

Zhou Xingxing's situation is better. "Shaolin Soccer" was not released in mainland China, while the box office of "Kung Fu" and "CJ1.5" both exceeded million yuan, so his appeal is stronger.

As for Chow Yun-fat, it seems that the only domestic film starring him, besides "Curse of the Golden Flower", is "My Aunt's Postmodern Life", which is not worth referring to.

The next echelon, such as Andy Lau and Liang Chaowei, have no movies that have made over 1 million yuan without the big directors. This is an era where directors carry the box office. For the top four directors, million yuan is the minimum and a barely passing number.

Even with the current appeal of Liu Zhou and Zhang Yimou, the new film's box office is guaranteed to be at least 200 million.

As for "The Warlords", with the combination of Li Lianjie, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro, distributed by Bernardus, plus its own quality and an investment of up to 3 million, it is normal for it to get a box office of million.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that without a great director, it will be difficult for a movie to break 100 million at the box office.

As long as the quality of the movie is good, it will be no problem for the box office to exceed 100 million or even 200 million. For example, Ning Hao’s three movies can be said to be a pure mainland lineup, without any appealing stars.

This is also the reason why Ning Hao is so recognized in the industry. His movies have won so much box office revenue just based on their quality, and he has accumulated a large number of fans.

Although there is no big director in charge of "The Sound of Wind" this time, the Golden Harvest brand is there, and the entire Golden Harvest team is very confident in the quality of the film.

In addition to the presence of two popular actresses with strong box office appeal, Fan Xiaopang and Zhou Gongzi, the outside world is also quite optimistic about "The Whistleblower". It is estimated that the movie will definitely make 100 million yuan at the box office, and may even exceed 200 million yuan.

When Liu Zhou arrived at the screening room, the premiere was about to begin.

Liu Zhou saw Zhang Zhao greeting many guests. Han Shanping should have arrived early. Several CEOs of film and television companies were surrounding him.

After Liu Zhou arrived, he first came to Han Shanping, greeted a few people, and then went to greet other guests. The premiere ceremony was about to begin.

First, amateur singer Liu Ye sang the theme song of the same name, "The Sound of the Wind", and had the opportunity to show off her singing voice.

Listening to Liu Ye singing, Liu Zhou felt a little uncomfortable. Not to mention her broken voice, she even almost forgot the lyrics. However, some audiences in the audience didn't seem to notice at all and cheered loudly.

Then Yu Shaoyan performed a piece of opera, in which he played Bai Xiaonian, the role of Su Youpeng.

He was born in Zhejiang Yue Opera Troupe and also starred in Chen Shiren's "Mei Lanfang" last year, playing the young Mei Lanfang, for which he won the Golden Horse Award for Best Newcomer.

Jiahe and Su Youpeng had no connection, and he was also an artist under Huayi, so when Chen Guofu was selecting the role of Bai Xiaonian during the open audition, he chose Yu Shaoyan at first sight.

Finally, Chen Guofu brought Fan Xiaopang, Zhou Gongzi and other main creators to the stage and talked about their thoughts and interesting things that happened during the filming.

It took nearly an hour in total, and the movie officially started at 8:20 in the evening.

At this time, the audience who were lucky enough to attend the premiere gradually quieted down and witnessed the country's first spy war blockbuster in advance.

The screening room suddenly darkened, and then the big screen slowly lit up.

The deafening sound coming from the speakers made the scene suddenly quiet.

Two commercials later, the dragon logo appeared, followed by the classic Golden Harvest logo.

The opening subtitles, combined with the sound effects, tell the audience what the background is.

In the middle of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wang made peace with the enemy, established a new "National Government" in Nanjing, and set up bandit suppression headquarters in various enemy-occupied areas, persecuting anti-Japanese elements on a large scale.

At this point, the War of Resistance entered a period of internal and external troubles. In the enemy-occupied areas, a large number of underground party members were lurking, intending to assassinate high-ranking officials of the Wang Puppet regime.

A fighter jet swooped down from the sky, passing through layers of dark clouds, and the rivers on the ground formed the two big words "wind".

The names of the leading actors flashed one by one, and the camera slowly zoomed in. On the big screen, there was a lively and cheerful scene, and the streets were celebrating Wang Puppet Double Eleven.
No, it’s Double Tenth Day!
It looks peaceful and tranquil!
On an ordinary night, something extraordinary happened.

Senior generals of the Japanese army and the puppet government were repeatedly assassinated, but this time the assassination failed. The female agent played by Yuan Quan was arrested and then severely tortured.

However, despite numerous tortures, Yuan Quan did not give in. But unexpectedly, he was later interrogated to extract information through acupuncture by the Chinese medicine practitioner Liu Ye, played by Wu Gang.

The chief of a secret service agency, Takeda, judged that these anti-Japanese killers could succeed repeatedly only when internal intelligence had been leaked, and that there was an underground worker code-named "Old Ghost" hidden in the headquarters.

However, the "Old Ghost" still sent out wrong information without knowing that the operation had been leaked.

After intercepting this intelligence, Takeda launched an investigation into the intelligence personnel of the "North China Bandit Suppression Headquarters", a unit directly under the Wang Puppet Regime, hoping to catch the assassin in five days.

Celebration, assassination, arrest, interrogation, confession, in just seven or eight minutes, the plot is very compact and dazzling.

At the same time, the official plot will be introduced without leaving any trace.

To be honest, the beginning is a bit bloody, with that nearly one minute of torture, from whipping, to dogs biting the body, and acupuncture by the somewhat neurotic Master Liu.

Most of the audience showed some reluctance on their faces, and some of them were so sentimental that they couldn't help but close their eyes.

The movie continues, and so on this night, five intelligence officers were gathered in the closed Qiuzhuang under the pretext of a meeting.

They are Wu Zhiguo, the chief of the puppet army’s military staff.

Bai Xiaonian, aide-de-camp to the puppet army commander-in-chief.

Li Ningyu, chief of the translation and telegraph section of the puppet army’s military affairs department.

Gu Xiaomeng, a clerk in the Translation and Telegraph Section of the Military Affairs Department of the puppet army.

Jin Shenghuo, director of the puppet army's military affairs department.

Takeda has identified the old ghost among these five people, and the investigation period is only five days.

At this time, the five people were thinking about their own things in their respective rooms. Wu Zhiguo was singing "The Empty City Scheme" on the balcony, and Gu Xiaomeng and Li Ningyu were also thinking about their own things on the balcony.

Takeda first conducted the first round of negotiations, but found no flaws.

He then decided to identify the handwriting of five people and asked each of them to write a brief biography of himself.

Through the notes, Bai Xiaonian was first identified as a suspect, and then he was tortured to death on the bed of nails and castrated.

But Bai Xiaonian, who seemed like a sissy, was actually a very tough guy and endured all these tortures one by one.

Finally, Bai Xiaonian waited for his superior, the commander of the puppet army. However, the commander did not come to save him, but to distance himself from him.

So in the end, the hopeful Bai Xiaonian was beaten to death in the pool.

This character is undoubtedly sad and pitiful. He was not defeated by torture, but was killed by the person he trusted most and by his own hope!
Halfway through the movie, one of the five people died. In the first two group scenes, the intrigues among each person were like thunder in the silence, which firmly grasped everyone's attention.

(End of this chapter)