In October, Xiang Nan took over the filming of another drama, "The Young Emperor", telling the story of Emperor Shunzhi.
The director and screenwriter of this play, Liu Heng, is the author of "The Happy Life of Slumber Zhang Damin". Now I am a writer and director, and I am beginning to become a director.
In addition to Xiang Nan, the main actors include Pan Hong, He Saifei, Li Fazeng and other seniors. In addition, the heroine Hao Lei is an old acquaintance of Xiang Nan and has worked with him many times.
The reason why Xiang Nan was willing to take this drama was that it was indeed a good drama. It is adapted from Ling Li's work of the same name. The original work won the third Mao Dun Literature Award, which shows that the story is very exciting;
Second, the crew agreed that he would bring two people into the cast, namely Qiao Zhenyu, who plays the second male lead, and Shu Chang, who plays the second female lead. Xiang Nan is now trying his best to make his artists popular within the scope of his abilities.
In this way, when he retires in the future, they can better take over his duties.
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During the filming of "The Young Emperor", "Crazy Stone" began to promote and prepare for its release.
Xiang Nan still handed over the distribution of this film to Bona Pictures.
Firstly, the last cooperation went smoothly and everyone had a certain friendship; secondly, in 2003, Bona merged with Shenlong Pictures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Poly, to form Poly Bona Pictures.
The depth of Poly's background shocked Xiang Nan. Relying on its background and capital, Polybona's future prospects are promising. Xiang Nan naturally knows this and is willing to cooperate with it more.
The movie "Crazy Stone" was originally released in 2006. At the time, there were almost no well-known actors in the film. Guo Tao was also half red but not black at that time.
Moreover, the cost at that time was only over 3 million. After barely making the movie, there was no money for publicity. It was only due to the high quality and good reputation of this movie that it finally earned more than 20 million yuan in box office.
But now, this movie is getting a lot of attention.
Firstly, Huang Bo's album is selling like hotcakes. Not to mention the overwhelming number of pirated discs, the genuine tapes and CDs alone have sold millions of copies, which is even more exaggerated than Xiang Nan's album sales.
This also increased his popularity. From a nobody before, he has become a suburban king and a grassroots singer. Although his name is not good, his popularity is huge.
Secondly, this drama was written by Xiang Nan, and now Xiang Nan is synonymous with talent. He wrote "Ghost Blows Out the Lamp" in the first half of the year, and now it has spread all over the country. It is said that "Taoban" is more popular than Jin Yong's "Martial Arts".
Last year's "Waiting Alone" was written by him, which gave the audience a certain degree of confidence in the film.
Therefore, after its release, the film's box office on the first day was very good. After entering the theater, the audience found that the quality of this movie was really good, with a wonderful story, vivid lines, and delicate performances.
In particular, the multi-line narrative is complex but not chaotic, and there are gatherings in the scattered, which makes the audience shout fresh. Therefore, the subsequent box office performance was very sharp.
By December, the cumulative box office had exceeded 40 million yuan, which was more successful than the all-star "Infernal Affairs 3".
Ning Hao suddenly became the top commercial film director in the Mainland, while Guo Tao, Huang Bo, Yan Fan and others also quickly became famous. Even Zhou Le, Cheng Bin and others who had few lines have become famous.
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And Xiang Nan's reputation as a talented scholar became even more solid.
It is said that the release of this movie brought a lot of pressure to Feng Xiaogang. Because his "Cell Phone" will be released during the Lunar New Year, right after "Crazy Stone".
"Crazy Stone" is so funny and raises the audience's laughter level, so it will be difficult for "Cell Phone" to amuse the audience. It's like following Ma Sanli in cross talk or following Zhao Benshan in sketches. Unless your skills are much higher than them, the audience may not find it enjoyable even if they are at the same level.
What's even more troublesome is that "Cell Phone" itself is not a comedy, but a drama with a very serious core, like a sugar-coated medicine. It tastes a little sweet but is bitter when swallowed. This affects its box office even more.
If the release date had not been determined long ago, Feng Xiaogang would have decided to withdraw "Cell Phone".
In fact, after "Mobile Phone" was released, the box office performance was indeed not as good as expected. The box office on the first day was pretty good, but after that the box office and reputation began to decline.
In the end, the total box office was only 44 million yuan. Although it was more than "Crazy Stone", it was still the box office champion that year. But in fact, everyone knows that Feng Xiaogang has lost.
From the main creator to the actors, almost all of "Crazy Stone" are newcomers, and the production cost was only 3 million. But it made 42 million yuan at the box office.
And "Mobile Phone" has all the big names from the main creator to the actors. The cost is as high as 20 million yuan. Ge You's salary alone can make a "Crazy Stone" film.
But the box office difference between the two movies was only two million yuan.
Therefore, "Crazy Stone" can be said to be glorious despite defeat.
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At the end of 2003, it was the annual awards season again.
Xiang Nan starred in "Waiting Alone" last year, which won many awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, and Best Newcomer.
Although no one won the award in the end, it is already very good to be shortlisted for so many awards.
However, this year, Xiang Nan did not release an album, so his name was not included in major music awards.
Although Huang Bo's "The First Snow in 2000" was a big seller, it was rejected by major award ceremonies because of its low style and weak artistry, so it also failed to receive any results.
This is basically the worst year since my debut.
But Xiang Nan didn't care.
With his current fame, status, and influence in the entertainment industry, he no longer needs these award ceremonies to prove his strength. On the contrary, any awards ceremony without him would be a bit dim.
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On January 22, 2004, the first day of the first lunar month, the romantic comedy movie "Love Call Transfer" starring Xiang Nan officially hit the theaters.
In this Spring Festival period, no movie was originally willing to be released. Because many filmmakers have a misunderstanding, they believe that during the Spring Festival, everyone is busy celebrating the New Year and no one will be willing to watch movies, so this period has not been taken seriously.
But in fact, Xiang Nan knows that the Spring Festival period is the most popular period in the mainland. Because the Spring Festival holiday is the longest, people have the most free time, are the most bored, and most want to have some fun.
So it’s actually the right time to show a movie.
Therefore, he urged Yu Dong, the boss of Bona, to let "Love Call Transfer" be released on the first day of the new year.
Yu Dong couldn't resist him, so he had to agree. But I thought in my heart, everyone is busy celebrating the New Year on New Year’s Day. When the theater is open, will ghosts come to watch movies?
Unexpectedly, as soon as the theater opened on New Year's Day, there would be audiences watching the movie. By the afternoon, all major theaters were almost full and packed with seats.
This kind of scene left Yu Dong speechless and made filmmakers all over China stunned.
