YM778.TV Chapter 830 - Spring Festival War
Chapter 830: Spring Festival War
The first promotional trailer for “Wandering Planet” was actually not very eye-catching: it only used a voice-over to describe the crisis the entire Earth was facing.
“The Sun is rapidly aging, and it will continue to expand. It is expected to engulf the entire Earth in about 300 years...
“So, what’s going to happen to us humans?
“The only way out of this for humanity is to leave the Solar System. But, we have to take Earth with us...
“The northern hemisphere will build 10,000 propulsors, while the equator will build 72 thrusters a week. After that, humanity will leave the surface and move below forever...
“The continuation of civilization is the only way for humanity to struggle and survive. We want Earth to fly out of the Solar System as we find a new home for it together...”
“This... Is... Project Wandering Planet!”
The voice acting for the promotional video was done by Wu Feng, whose voice was magnetic and infectious, so the effect of the promotional video was not bad.
In addition, the promotional video was well-written. With a simple one-minute monologue, he explained the background of the whole story. This novel with a worldview that humanity’s home was in danger and was being projected out into space attracted the attention of many viewers.
Just like when the movie was being advertised, everyone had their doubts. The quality of a movie could not be decided by the world. Especially since “Wandering Planet” was a sci-fi production, special effects were very important.
Furthermore, with the recent news, everyone knew that “Wandering Planet” would be a 3D movie, or even a 3D IMAX movie.
This technology that was promoted from Hollywood to the entire world was something that not many movies in the country could use. It could be said to be exclusive to Hollywood blockbusters. However, at that very moment, how could an unknown movie company, a protagonist (Su Yang) who had never filmed a movie before, and a director who had only filmed one romance movie, be able to successfully bring this movie to life?
Therefore, the outstanding performance of the first promotional video did not gain the approval of the audience. Instead, there were even more doubts.
However, in this popular society, “defamation” was never a sin, because as long as you were really capable, these haters could also be converted into fans. When “Legend Of Wu Zetian” was launched, Su Yang had used this publicity strategy to achieve victory by the element of surprise.
Therefore, even though the internet was filled with doubts, Su Yang did not mind at all...
‘Go ahead and make a fuss all you want... When the time comes, you’re going to be shouting how awesome the movie is instead...
‘After all, it’s human nature.’
...
After returning from the capital, Su Yang transferred all the work to Guo Fan and asked him and Li Zijun to take care of the follow up matters for “Wandering Planet”.
On the other hand, Su Yang wanted to make use of his free time to contact the Clown Sea to check on the situation in Central Asia.
However, before he could contact the sea serpent, a call came to him.
When he heard the phone ringing beside his ear, Su Yang suppressed the urge to look for the Clown Sea Serpent and asked Little Deeny, “Little Deeny, who’s calling?”
Little Deeny replied, “Master, it’s Wu Feng.”
‘Wu Feng?
‘Why is he calling me?’
As Su Yang thought about it, he picked up the phone.
The call connected, and Wu Feng’s bright voice came from the other end. “Brother Su, are you free now?”
In fact, Su Yang wasn’t in a hurry to look for the Clown Sea Serpent at the time, so he said, “I’m free, what’s the matter?”
Wu Feng said, “Then, let’s meet at your company in half an hour.”
Without waiting for Su Yang to reply, Wu Feng hung up the phone.
Listening to the busy tone on the phone, Su Yang recalled Wu Feng’s noisy surroundings and guessed that he was at the train station or airport.
‘Has he flown to Shanghai?’
Su Yang then drove to the office.
Su Yang did not have to wait long before Wu Feng arrived at the office.
The moment Wu Feng arrived at the office, he dragged Su Yang into the small theater within Jiadian Pictures without even greeting him. “Come, come, come. Brother Su, show me the movie.”
Su Yang was speechless.
It was only then that Su Yang knew the purpose of Wu Feng’s visit... He wanted to see the quality of “Wandering Planet” in advance.
Normally, films that were already confirmed to be released were rarely shown to outsiders, but Wu Feng was not an outsider. Not only was he one of the main actors, he was also an investor.
Hence, Su Yang did not say anything else and got his subordinates to start setting up the equipment for Wu Feng.
While they were waiting, Su Yang and Wu Feng started chatting. “You didn’t come to Shanghai just to watch a movie, did you?”
Wu Feng waved his hand. “Of course not. I have some matters to attend to at the production team, so I came to Shanghai for a transit. I’ve come here to watch the movie since I have some time on my hands.”
Thus, in essence, Wu Feng had actually come to Shanghai to take a look at “Wandering Planet”. After all, he had high hopes for this movie, even higher than his own sequel in fact.
After all, the “Wolf Warriors 2” was only an action movie. Although it had a cashable concept, there was still a difference between it and a representative work that represented the maturity of the domestic film industry, which was “Wandering Planet”.
In the past few days, there had been more doubts online about “Wandering Planet”, and the promotional video did not show anything, so Wu Feng could not sit still anymore.
He was really afraid that Su Yang and Guo Fan would ruin the movie.
Even though he trusted Su Yang, he still felt uneasy.
Therefore, he abandoned the filming crew that he was filming and traveled all the way to Shanghai to watch the show.
As for why he did not let Su Yang send the movie to him digitally...
For a movie that had yet to be released, asking for a copy of it, be it hard copy or digital, was very abrupt and unprofessional.
Once it was leaked, it would be a huge scandal.
Therefore, he did not want to put Su Yang in a difficult position, and he did not want to take such a huge risk either. Hence, he decided to take the opportunity to make a trip down to take a look.
Actually... He didn’t need to transfer to Shanghai at all. He did it on purpose.
Su Yang did not know what Wu Feng was thinking. After all, he did not use [Truth Or Explosion]. However, after Wu Feng finished his sentence, [Eye of Origins] popped up and stated... [Partially True].
Su Yang, who knew that Wu Feng was hiding something, did not care and did not expose him.
In fact, he could roughly guess what Wu Feng was thinking.
Therefore, he patted Wu Feng’s shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely surprise you.”
Wu Feng smiled but said nothing.
The movie would only count after it was broadcast.
Very soon, the equipment was set up, and the movie started to play.
In the beginning, the movie introduced the background of the movie like a promotional video: The sun was going to decay, and humans had to leave the Solar System, but they only found a suitable star system a few dozen light-years away. Therefore, humans planned to bring the Earth through tens of thousands of years and travel through space to reach the star system that was suitable for human survival.
The movie’s straightforward narration caught Wu Feng’s attention.
Even though he had participated in the creation process and had a certain understanding of the whole plot, Wu Feng sighed internally at the grandness of this setting.
It was not an exaggeration to say that this setting supported half the movie, while the other half depended on the special effects.
Soon, special effects popped up one after another. The vast glaciers, the huge space station, the realistic-looking Earth, Sun, Mars... Even the propulsors on Earth seemed real...
Looking at the special effects that appeared one by one on the big screen, Wu Feng was stunned. Was this really done by a local company?
He could not believe it. ‘Have we actually done it?’
After watching the movie, Wu Feng’s heart was pounding.
He knew that he had witnessed a miracle. ‘This is an actual sci-fi movie that has fulfilled everyone’s dream. No, it has far surpassed everyone’s expectations in fact!
‘This is the future of Chinese movies!’
Wu Feng looked at Su Yang, who was smiling back at him.
Wu Feng held Su Yang’s hand. “Brother Su, you’re awesome!”
Su Yang patted Wu Feng with his other hand. “It’s all because of our efforts.”
Wu Feng looked longingly at the big screen again and said, “If this movie doesn’t explode, I’ll run around naked!”
Su Yang had a weird expression on his face. ‘Isn’t this too sudden already? No one’s betting with you though.’
However, Su Yang did not want to dampen Wu Feng’s enthusiasm. Hence, he said, “That’s right. If this movie doesn’t explode, Guo Fan will run naked with you!”
Wu Feng was confused as he felt like something was off.
But... So what if it was weird? What mattered was that Wu Feng had watched the movie, was satisfied, and was now at ease.
Therefore, he did not stay for long. After praising Su Yang a few more times, he said, “Right then, Brother Su. I’ve watched the movie, so I’ll be taking my leave now. The crew is still waiting for me. We’ve also filmed the crucial part.”
Su Yang understood.
Normally speaking, “Wolf Warriors 2” should have finished filming earlier than “Wandering Planet”. However, due to Su Yang’s “schemes”, Wu Feng was pulled over to help “Wandering Planet”. Therefore, he deliberately delayed the start of the shooting date for “Wolf Warriors 2”. This resulted in the delay in the completion of the movie.
However, Wu Feng was fast at filming., so even if it was delayed, it would not take too long. He would probably finish filming next month or so, and it would not be a problem to catch up with the scheduled summer break schedule.
At that thought, Su Yang patted Wu Feng’s shoulder. “Brother Wu, take good care of yourself. We’re still waiting for your sequel to take first place in the box office.”
Wu Feng waved his hand angrily. “How can we possibly compete with a movie of that quality? Besides, my first movie only had a box office of a few hundred million yuan, so I’m not aiming that high. I just need to double it.”
Su Yang, who had already told Little Hus to sniff “Wolf Warriors 2”, looked at Wu Feng with a weird expression once again. He coughed and said, “Alright then. All the best anyway.”
Wu Feng winked at Su Yang. “Don’t worry. I will do my best. I know that you’re feeling a little shortchanged after exchanging your shares of “Wandering Planet” for “Wolf Warriors 2″.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t change back. Hahaha.”
Wu Feng, who looked like he had gained a lot, smiled and left the company. Accompanied by his assistant, he rushed to the airport and returned to the set to continue filming.
Su Yang shook his head helplessly.
“We’ll see then. Anyway, the summer break is only three to four months away from the Chinese New Year period. When the two box office sales come out, you’ll know who it is that’s taking advantage.”
‘If it weren’t for the fact that I can’t beat your movie, I wouldn’t have used such a scheme to delay your release.
‘After all, I’m required to rank first in the box office for my Platinum Mission.’
...
After Wu Feng left, Su Yang went home and continued to stay at home. Li Zijun and Guo Fan also continued to work overtime to promote “Wandering Planet”.
After investing in real money, “Wandering Planet” became more and more popular. There were all kinds of praises online. This kind of environment was even more eye-catching.
And of course, people in the film and entertainment industry and the entertainment industry had also noticed “Wandering Planet”.
After all... The release of “Wandering Planet” was too extravagant. It had only been released for 20 days, but now, almost a million yuan a day was spent promoting it. The advertisements, the editorials, and the topics were all over the place.
No movie dared to compete with Wu Feng’s movie during the Chinese New Year period.
As the most important period of the year, the box office battles during the Lunar New Year period were already very eye-catching, and now that “Wandering Planet” was about to crush them, it made people curious whether “Wandering Planet” really had real power or was it just the calm before the storm.
Therefore, many people used their connections to ask about the quality of “Wandering Planet”. There were quite a few Chinese New Year movies’ producers...
Normally, before a movie was released, there would definitely be an internal screening, and some would even invite people in the industry to participate.
But strangely, after asking around, they realized that “Wandering Planet” had never done any of this before.
Therefore, no one understood the quality of “Wandering Planet”.
‘That’s strange...
‘There’s actually no news about it at all...
‘Has no one inside participated in the screening?
‘Is this confidence or blatant ignorance?’
Actually, what they did not know was that “Wandering Planet” had a pre-screening before. However, the people who did the pre-screening were all big shots in the industry. They were either the reviewers, National Films, or the person-in-charge of the cinema chain.
These people had high statuses and were very tight-lipped. Furthermore, it was Su Yang’s film. Without Su Yang’s approval, they really did not dare to leak any information.
There were not many movies scheduled for the Spring Festival this year. There were only five movies. Other than “Wandering Planet,” there were four other movies. One was Master Xing’s directorial debut movie, “The Mermaid,” the other was Wang Jing’s popular movie sequel, “From Vegas To Macau 3”, and the last one was “Journey to the West: The Bone Demon” by Guo Fucheng, Gong Li, and other big shots like Feng Shaofeng. Finally, it was an animated film that was almost unknown.
Overall, in the expectations of audiences and industry estimates, “The Mermaid” was the best. “From Vegas To Macau 3” and “Journey to the West: The Bone Demon” were the second best.
After that was “Wandering Planet”, followed by the animated film.
It was the same for the pre-sales.
“The Mermaid” stood out from the rest of the movies. After all, in this era, everyone owed Master Xing a movie ticket, causing there to be too much of an emotional boost...
“From Vegas To Macau 3” and “Journey to the West: The Bone Demon” had far surpassed “Wandering Planet”.
“Wandering Planet” and the animated film were so pitiful that they only had very little box office at the pre-sales. It was obvious that they were going to be abandoned...
But, was it actually going to be as such though...?