Chapter 624 At Least We Need to Organize a Road Show, Right?

Historically, "A Chinese Odyssey" failed miserably at the box office in the mainland, and this lesson must be learned.

Although it is 1993 and the country has not yet introduced ten foreign blockbusters, there are still several good films in the mainland and joint ventures.

The first is the movie "Farewell My Concubine" directed by Chen Kaige.

In fact, this is also a joint venture film. The movie was released in Hong Kong on January 1, 1993 and won a lot of praise. But it has not been released in the mainland yet. Will it collide with "A Chinese Odyssey"?

Fang Minghua is not sure.

As a time traveler from the 21st century, he is not very clear about the way of film distribution, but he still knows a little about road shows and previews.

When my wife comes back, I will tell her.

In the evening, Song Tangtang came back. It was obvious that she was in a very good mood today.

As soon as she entered the living room, she threw away her bag, kicked off her high heels, and then danced a section of "Red Plum Blossom" barefoot in the living room.

Red plum blossoms bloom on the red rock

Thousands of miles of frost underfoot

What fear is there in the severe cold of the 39th day of the lunar year

A heart of loyalty blooms towards the sun

Fang Minghua, who was sitting on the sofa, applauded.

It's not perfunctory, it's sincere.

It's beautiful when my wife dances this dance!

Of course, it would be even better if she wore a 65-style military uniform and tied a military belt around her waist.

"Tangtang, why are you so happy today? In the past, when you were interviewed by reporters, you were never so excited when you came back?" Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"That's different! Because today I feel I have done something very meaningful!" Song Tangtang stopped dancing, leaned against Fang Minghua and said:

"I heard from Director Zhang that the research and development project that Jianjun is in charge of has very high application value in the field of aviation and military. The 50 million is worth it! Thank you, husband."

"What is there to thank? Liu Jianjun is my brother-in-law. If I don't spend the money on him, who else should I spend it on?" Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"Yeah. Director Zhang said that Jianjun has a bright future and will definitely become an expert in the field of aviation microelectronics in the future!"

"Really?! That's amazing." Fang Minghua said, but thought in his heart, if he is really amazing, will he become an academician of the Academy of Engineering in the future?

But now the National Academy of Engineering seems to have not been established yet.

The two laughed for a while, and then went to the living room to eat.

Steamed buns, millet porridge, cold cucumbers and scrambled eggs with tomatoes, very simple.

The two chatted while eating.

"Minghua, Stephen Chow called from Hong Kong yesterday to talk about the promotion of "A Chinese Odyssey."

"What did he say?"

"He said he was going to hold a grand premiere at the Tsim Sha Tsui Cinema in Hong Kong. Stephen Chow, Athena Chu and other main creative staff will attend. He also invited you to go." Song Tangtang said.

"I said I couldn't go." Fang Minghua refused. "What about the mainland?"

"There will also be one in Yanjing, but the specific location has not been determined yet!"

"Is it that simple?" Fang Minghua was stunned, and the steamed bun on the side of his mouth also stopped.

"How complicated is that? Which movie in the mainland has a premiere? Stephen Chow and his team are also pioneering!" Song Tangtang explained.

Yes, it is a pioneering effort.

Now, there is no concept of premieres in the mainland.

But isn't this too simple?

Fang Minghua put down the steamed bun and looked at his wife: "Tangtang, you also heard Lili talk about how the movie "Ghost" was promoted in the United States?"

"Yes, Lili said that from the director to the main actors, after the premiere at Rockefeller Center in New York, the team went to Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and other major cities for previews, which they called "Roadshow"

This movie is adapted from Fang Minghua's novel of the same name, and has achieved 500 million in revenue, maintaining the highest box office record since the 1990s.

Song Tangtang is proud of it.

Now she suddenly heard her husband mention this movie, and immediately thought of something "Minghua, do you mean that "A Chinese Odyssey" should also do a roadshow like "Ghost"? "

"Yes! This is a must." Fang Minghua's expression became serious: "Before shooting this movie, you were also worried about the box office, so the promotion and publicity work must be done! Money must be spent!"

"And whether it is a premiere or a preview, I have an idea, don't put it in the cinema, it's better to go to the university campus. "

"Walk into the campus?!" Song Tangtang was stunned.

This was the first time she heard that a movie that had not been publicly released was actually released on a university campus.

"I think the audience of this movie - that is, the fans, should be young people, especially college students with higher education, because only they can understand this movie with stream of consciousness." Fang Minghua explained.

"Yes, who among the general public likes to watch this confusing movie? What's more, it subverts the original work of "Journey to the West"! "Moreover, college students also like to watch movies starring Stephen Chow very much, and they are his fans, which is simply killing two birds with one stone!"

Song Tangtang's thoughts were immediately opened: "Then which cities and universities should we go to? Yanjing must be the first stop, Tsinghua, Peking University? And Shanghai, Fudan? Tongji? Of course, we have to come to Xijing. I have to think about it carefully, so that I can save money and achieve the expected results!"

"Don't worry, eat first, the porridge is going to get cold." Fang Minghua reminded.

"No. If I don't think about it, I can't eat it." Song Tangtang simply put the bowl and chopsticks aside, took out a pen and paper and started writing on the notebook.

Fang Minghua shook his head and started eating alone.

Forget it, my wife is like this, a workaholic.

Wait until she wants to eat, and then heat it up for her.

Song Tangtang was immersed in the production plan for the whole night.

This is not only about which cities and universities to go to, but also about the personnel, time, funds, etc. of the roadshow.

Fang Minghua has no opinion on this.

To be honest, he is not a film practitioner, and he only understands the basic concept of roadshow.

After Song Tangtang formulated the roadshow plan, he sent it to Stephen Chow in Hong Kong by fax. He is not only the leading actor of the movie, but more importantly, the actual controller of the main investor of this movie, Xingwei Co., Ltd.

The time is mid-March.

"A Chinese Odyssey" was approved by the relevant departments in the mainland and obtained the dragon mark. The next step is to arrange the public release time.

On January 1, 1993, the state promulgated Document No. 3 of Radio and Television: "Several Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the Film Industry Mechanism at Present", which stipulates that China Film Corporation will no longer manage the distribution of 35mm domestic films, and the studio will directly trade with the provincial or municipal distribution company, and at the same time, the ticket price will be liberalized.

This means that the producers have to talk to the film distribution companies in each province one by one!

But the good thing is that the ticket price can be negotiated by both parties.

During this period, Shengshi Film and Television, including Song Tangtang, was very busy and went to several major provinces and cities across the country and local film distribution companies to discuss the film release and specific ticket prices.

Of course, the more important thing is the road show.