China Entertainment 1997

At the end of June, "Transformers 4" was released in mainland China, officially kicking off the 2014 summer season.

The film's box office of 650 million in its first week once again set a series of film history records.

It also makes the ceiling of mainland movie box office records jump from 1 billion to 1.5 billion, and may approach 2 billion, or even exceed 2 billion.

This is a strong shock to the Chinese-speaking market. Even though many people had expected it before, now that it has come true, it still surprises and excites everyone.

In comparison, "The Breakup Master", which was released simultaneously with "Transformers 4", is not very eye-catching.

Of course, this "inconspicuous" is only relative.

"The Breakup Master" had a box office of 125 million in its first week, but rose instead of falling the next week. Expert agencies budgeted the total box office to be no less than 500 million.

Except for a few top bosses such as Cao Xuan, no one in the entertainment industry can take this achievement lightly.

Even Cao Xuan, someone specifically reported the news to him.

To be honest, Cao Xuan was still a little surprised by this.

The quality of the movie "The Breakup Master" can hardly be called excellent, and some of the plots are even vulgar, but as a comedy, it is passable and can at least make most people laugh.

Fans who have high requirements for movie quality may think this is a bad movie. Some ordinary viewers just want to have fun and laugh out loud at the movie, but they think this movie is not bad.

No matter how normal this person is, the audience's requirements, tolerance, and expectations are different, so the evaluation of the movie will naturally be different.

Even "Hunting", which has risen to 9.3 points, has received rave reviews, but some viewers feel that the plot is boring and boring, and it is not as good-looking as stated on the Internet.

Word-of-mouth aside, what Cao Xuan was really surprised about was that "The Breakup Master" starring and directed by Deng Chao was able to earn 665 million, but it relied on the popularity accumulated in "Run" + the heroine Da Mimi.

At that time, Deng Chao's popularity skyrocketed, and Damimi was firmly at the top because of "Tiny Times" and "Gu Jian Qi Tan", and her reputation was still very high.

Now that Deng Chao is no longer in "Run", his status and popularity are not even the slightest bit worse than those in the original time and space.

As for Damimi, now she doesn't like such a movie with a female protagonist as a co-star.

However, Deng Chao found Zhao Xiaodao, who became famous last year. Although it is difficult to say that Zhao Xiaodao can compare with Da Mimi from "The Breakup Master" in the original time and space, but it is estimated that the difference is not much different.

With such a combination, Cao Xuan thought that 300 or 400 million would be enough, but he did not expect that there was hope of reaching 500 million.

So much so that it made Cao Xuan wonder if he had underestimated Deng Chao and "The Breakup Master" too much.

After all, it is a comedy movie. As long as it can gain momentum, it has a high chance of becoming a dark horse.

Special effects blockbusters and laugh-out-loud comedies have always been the easiest genres for audiences to spend money on...

Deng Chao and Zhao Xiaodao also made a lot of money from this movie.

You know, because of the butterfly effect of the stars, Deng Chao is relatively lagging behind several popular Mesozoic male stars.

After he moved to the film field, except for one "Chinese Partner" that performed well, he basically relied on the "Famous Four" series of Raytheon for support.

The average box office of the "Famous Four" series is around 150 to 200 million. Although the results are good, they are not outstanding.

That is to say, these mainland male stars are basically suppressed by the big names in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The eldest brother is not inferior to the second brother, so Deng Chao's status is relatively stable.

The complete rise of Deng Chao in the original time and space relied on the huge popularity accumulated in "Run", so he left Huayi and set up his own business. He also developed well and became a representative of domestic entertainment male stars within a certain period of time.

Now that "Run" is gone, Deng Chao's confidence is much weaker.

But he still chose to leave Huayi, not only because of his independent ambition, but also because of the fierce internal fighting in Huayi and the dwindling resources.

Of course, Deng Chao is not stupid. After leaving Huayi, he quickly found a new supporter——

Rays and Orchids

The former hooked up together when they were filming "Four Famous Catchers", and even Deng Chao became independent, probably with the encouragement of Guang Guang Laowang later.

Over the years, Enlight has been trying to get a share of the film production pie, but the team and talents have been divided among various companies. The rare dark horses have also been picked up by Cao Xuan in advance.

So the light has been struggling for the past few years, but it has never made any big splash.

Deng Chao may not be in the top ten in the comprehensive evaluation of Star Artists, but he is still on the front line, and he is still very well-known in the eyes of the media, not to mention that he has also roped in the famous screenwriter Yu Baimei.

As for Guolan, it is even simpler.

Although the light is not bad, he is not a giant in the industry. If possible, Deng Chao would like to have a good relationship with Fanxing. He has always wanted to embrace Boss Cao.

If it weren't for fate, he would have surrendered to Cao Xuan a few years ago.

Although Guolan and Fanxing are two companies that are not under one umbrella and do not even have much explicit cooperation, no one in the industry knows that Guolan is Cao Xuan's "black glove".

For Fanxing alone, even if it owns the Fanxing theater chain, due to its own business line, its power in the entertainment industry may not be that terrifying.

It's different when you add Guolan. This company cares so much about its reputation and brand name, it can be said that it doesn't care about meat or vegetables.

Strictly speaking, Guolan's bottom line is even lower than that of some normal film and television companies. After all, the development of other companies sometimes still requires reputation and masterpieces, and they have to worry about appearance.

However, Guolan and Fanxing have a clear division of labor. When other Fanxing comes, Guolan only cares about making money, regardless of issues of principle, and will accept all money-making projects.

Under such a premise, Guolan has a huge capital chain and dozens of large and small company shares in the circle, forming the minions of the galaxy, tightly hovering around the stars.

The two companies are Cao Xuan's face and lizi.

Glory to the stars, no matter how much fame you earn, your status is aloof, the moon is clear and the breeze is clear.

Guolan and a group of younger brothers did dirty work and made a lot of money, but they didn't have much reputation. When Fanxing had something to do, they would take care of it.

However, in this way, although Guolan looks inconspicuous, the funds, connections and channels it can provide are among the best in the industry, not to mention that Guolan can use Fanxing's resources to a certain extent.

It would be an exaggeration to say that Guolan is the second-ranked company in the entertainment industry, but its overall strength can rank among the top three.

In the eyes of many people in the industry, cooperation with Guolan has the same meaning as Fanxing.

It's just that Guolan casts its net everywhere and is willing to join as long as there is a profitable project, so the threshold is low. At the same time, it is a mixed bag of dragons and snakes, making it difficult to really get on the line with it.

But if there are benefits and it shows its own value, Guolan will not let go of the cash cow, and long-term cooperation is certain.

It is even possible to acquire shares or reach strategic cooperation and officially join the galaxy.

Deng Chao's "The Breakup Master" is not popular with Fanxing, but Guolan will not care about the quality of the script and its reputation.

Realizing that there was a profit, he immediately won 30% of the share, and Guo Lan was also the one to lead Zhao Xiaodao's heroine.

As for the light, in terms of selection, I definitely don’t want Guolan to come and get a share of the pie, but it is also a Fanxing company.

In the past few years, we have been closely cooperating with Fanxing. To put it more harshly, we just work with Fanxing. The most important part of the distribution channel that Fanxing is proud of is Fanxing Cinemas.

The success of "The Breakup Master" must be attributed to Enlight's promotion and Guolan's theater channels, otherwise it would never reach the expected 500 million+ box office.

Nowadays, Deng Chao, a first-time director, has become famous. Although he is not as good as Xu Zheng and Zhao Zhao before him, he is still emerging.

Not only has his personal status and reputation been greatly consolidated, and even increased, but most importantly, he has initially built his own comedy personal brand.

Although this brand is still very superficial, with the achievements of "The Breakup Master", Guangguang and Guolan are willing to continue to support it.

Even the stars are looking at him differently, and the variety show department plans to invite him as a regular guest to participate in a reality show similar to "Run".

Also invited was Zhao Xiaodao.

The popularity of "Gu Jian Qi Tan" and "Flower Thousand Bones" last year made Zhao Xiaodao extremely famous. Not only did he aspire to be the top of the new four female actors, but he also appeared on the Spring Festival Gala.

Nowadays, Zhao Xiaodao still mainly focuses on TV series, but has also begun to consciously get involved in some movies. "The Breakup Master" is the first movie she starred in.

Unexpectedly, she got off to a good start and became the first dark horse in the summer season. Although it was Deng Chao who benefited the most, she also received a lot of benefits.

Apart from other things, with this movie as a foundation, she has completed the initial transition from a TV drama actor to a movie actor. It will be relatively easier and smoother for her to take on movie scripts in the future.

Zhao Xiaodao currently has a full schedule, including three TV series.

Just like Damimi in the previous two years, in addition to participating in work and activities, she lives on the set almost every day. If she and the team evaluate and accept this new variety show from the variety show department, she may not be able to take a break until the first half of next year.

But Zhao Xiaodao didn't feel tired, and even enjoyed it.

Because her efforts have been rewarded enough, she has always kept in mind the shame of losing the Golden Eagle Award to Liu Shishi and being laughed at by the crowd the year before last.

Although the Golden Eagle Award is still some distance away, everyone knows that this year's Golden Eagle Goddess will be the winner, and the previous ridicule has turned into recognition and affirmation.

Coupled with the success in his first film career, Zhao Xiaodao is full of energy.

If I didn't still have some sense, I would have wanted to shout arrogantly at those two people who were obsessed with me -

You two are called Xianmi!

………

Not to mention the bloated Zhao Xiaodao, the success of "The Breakup Master" in this year's summer release is just an appetizer.

Stars’ real killer move this summer is the last two movies.

In July, Cao Xuan starred in the movie "Dear"

In August, Mr. Xu’s "Taking Tiger Mountain by Wisdom"

Originally, "Heart Blossoms", a collaboration between Ning Hao, Huang Bo, and Xu Zheng, was also going to be released in the summer, and it would be on par with "Dear".

However, after looking at the wild performance of "The Hunt", Fanxing's box office expectations for "Dear" have been raised to a higher level, and he believes that it has great hope of becoming a hit.

In order to prevent each other from killing each other, "Heart Blossoms Release" was postponed for more than a month and changed to premiere on September 30, aiming for the National Day release.

So much so that Cao Xuan could not stay in Beijing to produce the album, but instead participated in the promotion of "Dear".

Nowadays, Fanxing has a lot of variety shows. In addition to a few trump cards, there are also several fixed variety shows, including TV stations and online platforms, which can fully allow Fanxing artists to be self-sufficient.

Cao Xuan has participated in fewer and fewer variety shows in recent years. In addition, Fanxing has a large number of variety shows of his own, and there are almost no invitations to him from outside variety shows.

Of course, with Cao Xuan's status and popularity, if he just says hello, it is estimated that top external programs will immediately rush out a special episode for him.

This is not an exaggeration. Not to mention the outside world, Fanxing knew that Cao Xuan was promoting "Dear" this time and was interested in participating in variety shows, and they immediately broke their heads.

"I don't care. I already gave in to Sun Yanzi last time. This time we must let the boss appear on our show."

In the variety show department conference room, the director of "Flowers and Boys" slapped the table and looked at the director of "The Voice of China" with eager eyes.

These two programs happen to be recorded and aired during the summer season. Not only are they direct competitors, but they also have the best chance to compete for Cao Xuan's existence. In the past, there were still nastiness, old grudges and new grudges. It's rude to say so.

"It's not like you don't know that the boss never participates in reality shows. He made an exception last time to help you open up new land. Now how can you have the nerve to ask the boss to go abroad and travel with you on a budget?"

The producer of "The Voice of China" looked disgusted, clearly showing great disdain for the director of "Flowers and Boys".

"You don't need to worry about this. As long as the boss is willing, we will launch a special episode in the country right away. On the contrary, your program is the same back and forth, with no highlights."

The two people were tit for tat and had a heated argument.

The people in charge of "Laughter Conference Room" and "If You Are the One" tried to intervene but were jointly rebuffed. The deputy minister who presided over the meeting even had a headache due to the noise and called for help.

After a while, the director of the variety show department opened the door and walked in. Not only that, but also the two ace variety show managers who had already started to roll up their sleeves and bluff.

"You two don't need to argue. The boss looked at the program list and decided on "The King of Masked Singer"."

"ah."

The director of "The Masked Singer" who was eating melon in the corner looked confused, followed by ecstasy.

"The King of Masked Singer" is a new variety show just launched by Fanxing this year. The model is probably to invite some singers to do masked disguises and falsetto to hide their identities, let the jury and the audience below guess, and then compete.

The highlight is the singing competition and the masking. The judging panel and the audience in front of the TV rack their brains to guess who the singer is based on various details.

It looks similar to "I Am a Singer", but a little less competitive and a little more interesting.

At present, "The King of Masked Singer" has just recorded two episodes and played one episode. Although the data is not bad, it is obviously unable to compare with the already famous ace show.

So in the previous verbal spat, the director of "The Masked Singer" didn't even think about opening up a fight, but now it's pie in the sky.

Thinking of this, the director of "The Masked Singer" jumped up and rushed out of the conference room.

The director of the variety show department was startled and shouted quickly: "What are you doing?"

"Convene the crew for a meeting to plan."

"Wait, let me tell you the boss's request first."

The director of the variety show department chased him out, while the others stayed in the conference room and chatted wildly.

"Why did the boss choose "The Masked Singer"?"

"I guess I have participated in other shows, and "The Masked Singer" is a bit more novel."

Everyone was silent, and only this reason was more reliable, but the more it was like this, the more unhappy a few people felt.

The boss is too willful, which sometimes gives people a headache...

Cao Xuan got the new project for "The King of Masked Singer" two days later.

To be honest, Cao Xuan's participation in "The King of Masked Singer" brought a big surprise to the program team.

It can be expected that with the addition of Cao Xuan, even if it is only for one episode, it will bring them a lot of exposure, and even hope that the show will become popular in one fell swoop.

Back then, "Flowers and Boys" and "The Voice of China" had benefited a lot from Cao Xuan.

But having said that, "The King of Masked Singer" has a complete competition system. Cao Xuan joined rashly and only participated in one episode, which had a considerable impact on the program and could even be said to disrupt the rhythm of the competition system.

But thinking about everything Cao Xuan can bring, "The King of Masked Singer" still feels worth it, not to mention Cao Xuan revealed that a new song composed by him will be released on this show.

For this alone, the program team put aside other concerns and directly created a special episode specifically for Cao Xuan's promotion.

Cao Xuan took a brief look and was quite satisfied.

Then he put the project aside, took a nap, prepared a few cans of Red Bull, and prepared to watch the Brazilian World Cup final in the evening.

Zeng Li had no interest in football and went to bed early. Hu Jing, under the influence of Cao Xuan over the years, was barely half a fake football fan.

I probably know a few stars and can tell the difference between club and national team games. I hardly watch normal games and just join in the fun during the World Cup.

In addition to Hu Jing, Cao Xuan's son Cao Yang also joined in the fun. He was so sleepy that he couldn't open his eyes. He gritted his teeth and asked Cao Xuan to wake him up to watch the game.

At 3 o'clock in the morning, Cao Xuan accompanied Dong Gong, his son, and several bodyguards, nannies and others who were fans to watch the game in front of the curtain set up in the yard, with barbecues, wine and food prepared before.

Hu Jing was wearing an Argentina jersey, and Cao Xuan couldn't help but look at it a few more times. Needless to say, it had a different flavor.

Cao Xuan himself was not wearing a jersey, but Cao Yang was wearing Wayne Rooney's Manchester United No. 10 jersey.

This was specially customized by Cao Xuan for him. Sometimes he would put it on when watching a game. The child even remembered it. Whenever he watched a game, he would clamor for a jersey to wear.

Before the start of the finals, Cao Xuan's old acquaintance Shakira appeared in the closing ceremony performance.

The latter participated in the opening or closing performances of the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, and was a guest performer again at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

It is said that she is likely to still perform in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. If this is true, she has participated in more World Cups than Pique...

As a guest performer who also participated in the closing ceremony of the World Cup finals, Cao Xuan debuted earlier than Shakira. He also pretended to make a few comments, which made Hu Jing roll her eyes.

When the game started, everyone present was attentive. Even the ignorant little Cao Yang clenched his fists and watched the ball flying around on the green grass.

Hu Jing is on Argentina's side, not because she likes the team so much, but because Messi is very popular and Argentina is very popular, so she follows suit.

Cao Xuan didn't have any specific preference. He simply enjoyed the game, eating some meat skewers and drinking a few sips of beer from time to time.

The content of this final was somewhat different from Cao Xuan's impression.

Higuain scored the one-on-one goal, but in the second half, Cao Xuan remembered that Reus, who did not participate in the World Cup due to injury, became a substitute this time and equalized the score for the German team.

In the end, Gotze scored the winner in the 119th minute of overtime, and Messi burst into tears at the Maracana Stadium.

Cao Xuan feels that this ending is quite good. Higuain will not retire with regrets, and Royce will finally feel the glory of the Hercules Cup.

As for Messi, Cao Xuan can't comfort him, but he can comfort Hu Jing, who is wearing an Argentina jersey.

As a result, I turned around and saw that the Empress of the East Palace had already replaced her Argentina jersey, took out a German team jersey from somewhere, and cheered for the German team with a smile on her face.

Cao Xuan looked at the dejected Messi on the screen, and suddenly thought of how he could avenge Argentina tonight...