novelraw Chapter 101 Preparing for "Sheep Without a Shepherd"
Chapter 101 Preparing for "Sheep Without a Shepherd"
Tang Lou had, of course, already noticed the commotion on Zhang Wei's side.
Tang Lou is neither an artist nor a film director; he is simply a representative of capital, for whom box office success is paramount.
Making movies is just a business.
Therefore, Tang Lou didn't take Zhang Wei's project "The Ferryman" seriously at all.
Although the cast of this drama is impressive and the investment cost is staggering, garbage is garbage.
The pre-sale results for this drama were indeed impressive, with box office revenue exceeding 100 million yuan on its first day, making it a typical example of a high start followed by a decline.
As for why it opened so high, it was simply due to Alibaba Pictures' strong promotional efforts. However, due to negative word-of-mouth, audiences aren't stupid, and the box office plummeted.
The show's rating on Douban once dropped below 4 points. It's safe to say that any serious director, with so much money and such a top-notch cast, wouldn't have produced such a mess.
The failure of this series is also directly related to the film's producer and director.
The entire movie can be viewed as a PowerPoint presentation of Zhang Jiajia's novel excerpts, or a medley of classic songs.
The comedic parts are so awkward and embarrassing that they can make you cringe! This movie later became a famous scene.
That is, Wang Jiawei, who is ignorant and incompetent and relies entirely on Zhang Shuping to maintain his empty reputation. He publicly responded on Weibo: "Ferryman, ferry others and yourself."
Then, Leung Chiu-wai and other lead actors swooned and reposted, "I like it too."
Fortunately, there's still one normal person in the Chinese entertainment industry, Wang Chuanjun, who posted: "I don't like it."
He was also attacked by Wang Chuanjun's sycophants, who criticized him in various ways and even used Wang Chuanjun's attitude towards "iPartment" to shift the topic of attack.
Tang Lou has never liked Wang Jiawei, and he was not the real mastermind behind Wang Jiawei's several famous works.
He's simply an unconventional director who's good at packaging himself.
Therefore, Tang Lou is prepared to confront Zhang Wei head-on in the media after she chooses to produce this film.
In the previous life, only Wang Chuanjun directly confronted and expressed his stance, but this time, Tang Lou is preparing to publicly criticize "The Ferryman".
He also plans to have his artists, or those he collaborates with, respond to Wang Chuanjun's Weibo post.
It completely ruined the reputation of "The Ferryman".
Besides their strategy towards the other party, Tang Lou's first film project was planned to take a shortcut.
That would be to replicate Chen Sicheng's genius by making a remake! The first film, with a relatively low budget, would generate considerable box office revenue, achieve profitability first, and then make a splash in the film industry.
Therefore, Tang Lou plans to start by targeting Chen Sicheng's very successful series, "Sheep Without a Shepherd".
This movie is a remake of the Indian film "Drishyam".
The previous life was the debut feature film directed by newcomer director Ke Wenli, with a total investment of less than 80 million, but it achieved an astonishing box office of 13.33 billion after its release.
The script for this movie is very solid. Since it's a remake, the requirements for the director and screenwriter aren't that high.
Low cost, high operability, and high box office are also the reasons why Tang Lou chose "Sheep Without a Shepherd".
Another point is that this movie is very suitable for release at this time of year for Tang Lou.
Having just successfully launched the Mist Theater, and with the airing of "The Silent Truth," his team has already earned the reputation of being a benchmark production team for suspense films.
At this point, if a suspense film like "Sheep Without a Shepherd" were released, with the combined promotional efforts of Youku Video and Alibaba Pictures, it would definitely achieve extremely high box office returns.
Moreover, this time Tang Lou is preparing to make some changes to the film's creative team.
As for the director, Tanglou plans to use Xin Shuang, the go-to director for the Mist Theater, who has gained enough experience after filming two consecutive dramas.
Xin Shuang is currently much easier to use and more powerful than the rookie Ke Wenli.
Then, regarding the cast, this film, produced by Chen Sicheng, uses Xiao Yang, whom he often collaborates with, while Tang Lou is going to use Qin Hao, the go-to male lead from the Mist Theater and a heartthrob of art films.
Qin Hao's image, popularity, and acting skills are all beyond reproach.
With the added acclaim of the two opening web dramas of the Mist Theater, "The Hidden Corner" and "The Silent Truth," he would definitely be a better fit than Xiao Yang at this stage.
As for the female lead, we can just invite Tan Zhuo directly, as this drama is one of her most famous works.
The remaining actors, including Chen Cong who plays La Wen and the others, will use the original cast.
Tang Lou plans to make some changes to the casting of the protagonist's eldest and youngest daughters.
Tang Lou intended for Tian Xiwei to play the role of the eldest daughter, giving her a major part in the role.
As for the collaboration method for this film, Tang Lou plans to adopt a co-production approach.
Tanglou Entertainment, a company under its own umbrella, will be the main investor, with KuMiao Video investing a portion later. This will allow the project to move forward more quickly.
In addition, this movie is expected to generate huge profits. According to Tang Lou's plan, as long as "Sheep Without a Shepherd" becomes a huge hit as expected, his Tang Lou Entertainment Company will be able to earn at least 3 million yuan in box office revenue.
After deciding on the "Sheep Without a Shepherd" project, Tang Lou immediately began making arrangements.
The most important thing is to purchase the copyright of "Drishyam". As for the formation of the production team, "The Silent Truth" has just entered the post-production stage.
Once this series ends, I can start taking on new projects without any shortage of options.
Having honed their skills through numerous projects, Tanglou now possesses a systematic and professional production team.
So, although it was his first time producing a film, Tang Lou wasn't worried at all.
Unlike starting from scratch, with Tanglou's current industry status and influence, producing a film with an investment of 80 million is not a difficult task.
Now Tang Lou also serves as the vice general manager of Kuyang Entertainment, and can directly use Alibaba Pictures' resources and platform. As a result, the filming and production of "Sheep Without a Shepherd", as well as its subsequent publicity and release, are all going very smoothly.
This is also why Tang Lou has always insisted on staying on KuMiao Video instead of going out to start his own business.
As long as you maintain your status and position on this platform, the resources and connections you have will be far more convenient than when you start your own business.
While Tanglou was preparing for the "Sheep Without a Shepherd" project, the second signature web series of the Mist Theater, "The Silent Truth," had already been completed.
They went straight into the publicity phase, and this publicity was crucial, not only for "The Silent Truth" itself, but also for "Sheep Without a Shepherd" later on.
The director and lead actors are largely the same. If "The Silent Truth" becomes a hit, then Qin Hao and Tan Zhuo will definitely bring huge traffic to "Sheep Without a Shepherd".