Chapter 533 Let art be art!

Chapter 533 Let art be art!

[Friends, my new film "Buried" is about to be released worldwide... Please tell me what should I do next to make "Buried" successfully enter the Oscars and impress the Academy Awards jury? ]

As soon as Li Youzhi posted this Douyin dynamic, the dynamic comment area was immediately dominated by "Hahaha"!

During this period, Li Youzhi was in EMO, but as the old saying goes - happiness built on the pain of others is true happiness, the netizens of Leziren really had a great time!

What happened to Li Youzhi's impact on the Oscars? Maybe those self-media and entertainment news media who are just trying to make a living didn't know the truth, and just edited an article and sent it out for the sake of popularity.

But Leziren knew everything.

Not only did they know everything, but throughout the whole process, this fan group, which has always been known for its abstractness in the domestic entertainment industry, was fueling the flames and pushing things to develop in an increasingly outrageous direction.

Especially these days, when seeing some veteran actors or well-known film critics in the entertainment industry all leave the stage, taking advantage of the trend of "Buried" to be released to attract traffic, and seriously analyzing topics such as whether Li Youzhi can succeed in winning the Oscar, how do the people of fun feel?

The whole entertainment industry has been fooled!

Seeing that Li Youzhi, who has been pretending to be dead and ignoring the outside world, suddenly emerged and seemed to have accepted the result of his own promotion, the people of fun were simply laughing to death.

"Hahahaha, the little brother is finally willing to show up! Don't panic, let the people downstairs tell you what to do!"

"Hahaha, I really thank you on behalf of the little brother. If I want to say this, the dragon and the phoenix below are more insightful!"

"Fuck you, the little brother is almost fooled to death by you, and now he is still playing, even I, a senior fun person, can't stand it hahaha, @Listen to the advice of brother Li Youzhi. Don't panic. Oscars are like that. It doesn't matter whether you win or not. After all, there is no precedent. If the quality of Buried can maintain the state of your previous live broadcast, even if it doesn't win the Oscar, no one can complain. We will always support you - whether it is verbal or box office!"

"It feels a bit difficult to make Buried successfully enter the Oscars and impress the Academy Awards jury. After all, even the Oscars themselves are not sure what kind of movies and filmmakers to give the awards to. But this does not prevent us from setting a small goal - to break the box office of Buried to 1 billion first!"

"Ah, right, right, right! I suggest that you push the box office of Buried to more than 1 billion. The box office of Hollywood's big productions is very sluggish now. I estimate that if we can get a global box office of 1 billion this time, we will definitely be nominated! As long as we can be nominated, then won't there be a great hope of winning the award?"

Beep!

Received a suggested task (award for the global box office of "Buried" to reach 1 billion), the task difficulty is 6 stars, and you can get an A-level reward treasure chest after completing it!

Seeing the person in the comment area who gave him an A-level task, Li Youzhi's eyes lit up.

That's what Zhi Ge wants you to say!

A bunch of scum, after playing for so many days, you finally did something human and said something human, right?

You guys have made such a big thing, and now Zhi Ge is riding a tiger and it's hard to get off.

If the box office is not good this time, and he doesn't win the Oscar, where will Zhi Ge put his face?

Thinking of this, Li Youzhi casually liked the suggestion comment and took a screenshot, and posted it to the comment area and manually pinned it.

"Received, I'll listen to your advice! But I can't do the box office myself, and I still need the support of all my friends! See you at the premiere of "Buried"!"

If Li Youzhi said this a year ago, people with fun might have just left or just played badly.

But it's different now.

What's the situation now?

In the past year or so, there was the crowdfunding of "Nezha" first, and then the listing of Heguang Audiovisual. Basically, all the netizens of Leziren have been involved in it. Even some senior fans have doubled their net worth by dozens of times with their trust in Li Youzhi!

Other fans become poorer and poorer as they chase stars, but when it comes to Li Youzhi... the speed at which his own wealth and fame grow is completely inconsistent, but his fans are really rich.

Hiding wealth among fans is really...

With Li Youzhi's call, the comment area was instantly filled with comments.

"Don't worry, brother, see you there!" "We Leziren have booked the premiere in Chongqing!" "It's just the box office. We Leziren Chengdu group has booked the night show in Chengdu!" "Don't worry, brother!"

After glancing at the rich and powerful comment area, Li Youzhi nodded with satisfaction.

It's worth it for Brother Zhi to take you flying for such a long time.

Very good, very energetic!

Seeing that his basic box office has been settled, Li Youzhi picked up the phone and dialed Liu Yun's number.

After re-planning the promotion and promotion schedule of several important domestic ticket warehouses with Liu Yun, he picked up Tu Susu...

In the next few days, Li Youzhi officially started his national roadshow with Tu Susu's help.

First go north and then south, and hold fan meetings along the way. In a blink of an eye, it is the premiere day of "Buried".

Although "Buried" is still nominally a summer vacation movie, in fact, after two rounds of publicity and preheating activities, the summer vacation has reached its end. September is coming, and the season has already entered autumn.

Shanghai, Dawan Film and Television Center, the domestic premiere of "Buried".

Looking at the crowded scene more than half an hour away from the first premiere, that is, the 10 o'clock show, Tu Zheng and Liu Yun, who attended in formal attire as distribution representatives, said "good guy".

"Wow! Our Xiaozhi's box office appeal is unparalleled now. When I first met this brat three years ago, I never dreamed that there would be such a day. Hey Xiaozhi, don't you remember when you were in the "Kite" crew? A gangster, with a group of classmates like a little gangster. Now he is considered a powerful figure in the Chinese film industry, a T0-level film and television star!"

Beep!

Received Liu Yun's additional [Relieved] Amazement Points, 55 points, 55 points, 55 points...

Standing backstage and watching the audience entering the venue, and listening to Liu Yun's sigh beside him, Li Youzhi couldn't help but laugh.

"Brother Liu, you are embarrassing me with what you said. Others don't know what's wrong with me, but you should know! So many people are supporting me, it's all thanks to the popularity of this film. To be honest, I originally wanted to shoot the film "Buried" for fun, so I didn't dare to ask you to support me when I was shooting this film. I thought that if the filming effect is not good or there is no market, I will just pretend to be dead quietly.

Unexpectedly, a group of stupid fans took my rhythm. In fact, if it weren't for this wave of popularity for the Oscar, "Buried", a niche film, would definitely not be as popular as it is now, even if it had the box office reputation of "The Wandering Earth" and "Nezha" before."

With the five senses enhanced halo on, Li Youzhi saw several people holding notebooks and serious faces who definitely didn't look like audiences entering the premiere ceremony, and he pursed his lips at Liu Yun.

"And you see, on the surface, the enthusiasm for watching movies is high, but the heat created by fans for the Oscars may have angered many people, who are secretly hoping that I will fail. Brother Liu, I am really walking on thin ice now..."

Seeing Li Youzhi huddled in the middle of the big screen backstage, with a face full of bitterness, Tu Zheng on the side laughed so hard that his teeth came out.

He knew from the beginning that Li Youzhi was being led by netizens. And to be frank... As the agent and distributor, he also has an unshirkable responsibility for the development of the matter to the current point. After all, in order to save publicity and distribution costs, Tu Zheng also contributed to this matter.

Otherwise, relying on a group of netizens to lead the rhythm without the endorsement of a distributor like Qiangsheng Film and Television, the trickery of the entertainment people will soon be exposed by the serious entertainment media.

Now that Li Youzhi has rarely been defeated, Tu Zheng, who is used to seeing Li Youzhi getting whatever he wants, is very happy!

Even at this moment, a kind of joyful person's happiness was freely flowing in his blood.

"What kind of thin ice are you walking on? You only spent a few hundred thousand to make the movie "Buried Alive", which was almost cost-free. This time, the publicity and promotion mainly relied on your fans to create momentum. It has been on more than a dozen hot searches in a row, and we didn't spend a penny. The total publicity and promotion costs are just the dozen roadshows you have held in the past few days, and some media arrangements.

All in all, this movie didn't even cost 10 million. Looking at the current ticket booking platform and pre-sale status, 500 million box office is guaranteed, and 100 million in the first month is not a difficult task. If all moviemakers can walk on thin ice like you, then the fucking river of the Chinese film industry is frozen too solid!"

Tu Zheng patted his forehead after roughly calculating for Li Youzhi with his fingers.

According to the current trend, the net profit of "Buried Alive" is stable to exceed 200 million, even if it is not a box office turnover, and 500 million is not a dream.

This only counts domestic sales, not foreign sales!

"The premiere in the United States is also today. Have you heard from them? At this time, the first show there should have already started, right?"

After hearing Tu Zheng's inquiry, Li Youzhi raised his hand and looked at the old seagull that had been with him for many years.

Seeing that it was almost 9:30 p.m. on the other side of the ocean, he smacked his lips.

"I think so... I hope... there will be a good result after the premiere there."

...

At the same time.

Sacramento, the capital of California, USA.

Located on the edge of the city's commercial area, the audience of the premiere of "Buried" has already entered the Huggins Cinema.

Watching the last audience member rushing into the screening room with popcorn and Coke, Evans, the business manager of Huggins Sacramento Cinema, waved to the popcorn boy.

"Eddie, how many snacks did you sell just now?"

Unlike large-scale A-class cinema chains, as a B-class cinema, the main source of operating income for Huggins Cinema is not movie tickets - but food and beverage income.

Unlike movie box office, this part of the income does not have to be shared by the theater with the distributor, and the profit margin of popcorn and soda is surprisingly high!

Take Huggins for example; H\u0026U, the popcorn brand operated by Huggins, is loved by movie fans because of its unique taste and special butter ratio, and the profit is as high as 75%!

But the profit of H\u0026U popcorn is not the most outstanding in Huggins' rich snack lineup.

The bundled juice drink "Fruit Fragrance" is the real profit king!

This flavored drink made with concentrated apple pulp can even maintain a profit of more than 80% for a large cup. At a price of $4.5 per cup, every drink sold can contribute more than three dollars of net income to Huggins theaters everywhere.

In order to sell more popcorn and drinks, Huggins has taken great pains.

For example, reducing the number of ticket check entrances and increasing the boring time for audiences to wait in line. They opened a catering and snack buffet in the screening room, and even opened a fast food restaurant in the most conspicuous position on the first floor for the audience to eat after the midnight show...

As for movie tickets?

A movie ticket sells for 20 dollars in the first week of release. According to the rules of the American film and television market, the distributor should take 80 to 90 percent of it. No one cares!

"Sir, the movie released today is a bit niche. It is a low-budget thriller starring a Chinese director. The attendance is average. I think the attendance in the first show was only about 70 to 80 percent, and there were only 20 to 30 people in total? As for snacks... let me see."

Faced with the manager's inquiry, the popcorn guy hurriedly operated a few times on the back of the vending machine, and then reported;

"Before the opening, 14 barrels of H\u0026U medium barrels and 9 barrels of large barrels were sold. Thirty-four servings of various flavors of beverages were sold..."

"Shit!"

Hearing this sales situation, Evans, who could not see his toes when he lowered his head, bulged his fat belly The son raised his hand and cursed;

"Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have believed that Englishman's foul mouth! The ticket price is 15 dollars, even if we get 40% of the share, we can only make 6 dollars per ticket. This damn attendance has made us lose at least 20 popcorns! I have a hunch that our sales bonus this week will be a chilling number, Eddie. If the snack sales this week don't reach 7,000 US dollars, when that Englishman comes to renew the contract next week, I will break his dentures and let him roll into the Pacific Ocean with his damn Chinese movie! I mean what I say!"

Ding!

Just as Evans was cursing at the sky with his belly sticking out, suddenly the background of the popcorn guy's vending machine issued a crisp reminder.

Looking at the sales record of a large cup of "Fruit Flavor % Grape" that came out of the snack vending machine in Hall 1, which was showing "Buried Alive" less than 10 minutes after the show started, Evans blinked his blue eyes wrapped in fat.

Although the self-service vending machines in the screening room are set up to facilitate customers to buy snacks during the movie, the utilization rate of the vending machines in the screening room is actually not high.

Unlike China, the self-service vending machines in the United States can use various online payments. Most vending machines require credit cards...

Operating the vending machine in the dark screening room, finding the magnetic strip for swiping the card and entering the password under the glaring light is definitely not a good experience.

So often at the end of the day, the snacks in the vending machine are not sold very many - especially during the movie, some customers would rather go to the bar to buy snacks, miss Huggins's poor film selection, and are unwilling to operate the annoying vending machine.

So now, seeing the big glass of juice sold, Huggins is a little confused.

Similarly, looking at the big glass of juice sold just after the movie started, the popcorn guy smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"It must be some unlucky guy who spilled his juice after the movie started, poor guy."

Ding!

Ding!

Ding! !

However, before he finished speaking, a series of transaction reminders rang out like popcorn!

Looking at the sales panel, all the juice sales reminders from the No. 1 screening room, Evans and the young man looked at each other.

WTF?

Could the movie being shown now have the magic of dehydrating the audience?

The audience in the No. 1 screening room was not actually dehydrated.

But the wooden box coffin buried deep underground on the big screen, and the person in the wooden box struggling hysterically for survival, made them feel as if their souls were also pulled into the stuffy and desperate wooden box!

The plot of "Buried Alive" is actually so simple that it is outrageous. It is about a man who is buried deep underground, and then gradually finds the props in the wooden box, and struggles to survive with these props such as lighters, knives, and mobile phones with only one signal and half power. Fighting against closed fear, venomous snakes, KB elements, unscrupulous capital and indifferent and even lying bureaucrats, trying to escape from the dead.

But this simple script is not simple at all.

In the wooden box, every link that the protagonist experiences is crucial. Props and events unfold bit by bit, the dramatic tension is added layer by layer, and the suspense is always deepening, making people unable to stop!

Struggle, desire for life, anger, fear, suffocation, despair, all the emotions that should be there were vividly displayed by Ryan in that small and cramped space.

In the screening room with only about 20 people, it was ten minutes before the movie started.

The first part of the plot of "Buried Alive" has unfolded; in the oppressive wooden box, the poor man full of tension, panic, confusion and other emotions is trying to accept the current situation.

He used the coffin nails to cut the ropes that bound his hands, and with the faint light of the lighter he carried with him, he found a mobile phone whose interface text he could not understand at all.

At this time, the poor guy was frantically asking for help from the outside world with a weak signal.

In order to prevent the last cell phone signal from disappearing, he curled up on one side of the wooden box in a rather awkward posture. His body was covered with stains of dirt, sweat and vomit.

"COMEON, COMEON, COMEON... Shit!"

Looking at Li Youzhi's dirty face reflected by the dim light from the phone on the big screen, the first row of audiences who felt the same way couldn't help but gurgle and swallow their saliva.

Some audiences couldn't stand the anxiety coming from the big screen and put the juice straw into their mouths.

It was in this gurgling sound of juice rushing that the damn 911 call was finally connected by the poor guy in the box.

"Hello, this is 911. How can I help you?"

"Hey! I'm buried. You have to save me. I can't breathe. I'm buried in a coffin! Save me!"

"Sir, you mean you're buried in a coffin? Are you in the funeral home now?"

"No! Damn it, I'm in Rilak! I don't know where exactly in Rilak, but I'm in a box and buried under the sand. Can't you locate me? Find my location and save me!"

"Um... sir, I want you to make one thing clear. We are 911 in Georgia. I'm sorry for what happened to you, but we really can't help you. Also... if you're bored in the middle of the night, please fuck your own ass. That's it. Have a good life."

"Fuck! Fuck!!! Ah, ah!!!"

The first row of the theater.

Looking at the phone call that was ruthlessly hung up by 911 on the big screen, and the poor man curled up in the box, banging and scratching the box hysterically, a bearded audience member loosened his arm around his female companion's shoulder...

Raised the juice drink in his hand!

Tons, tons, tons, tons...

After pouring the 500 milliliters of juice into his extremely thirsty throat in one breath, the big man still felt that his breathing had not recovered smoothly.

Shaking the drink cup, seeing the ice cubes that had not yet melted, he tore open the cover of the drink and raised his neck.

"Damn it, this movie makes me unable to stop, and it is suffocating! Ruili, my dear, can you help me get another drink? Add more ice cubes, I really need these elves that can relieve my anxiety now!"

Faced with his request while chewing ice cubes, the female companion sitting next to him also licked her lips.

Shaking the drink that had already reached the bottom in his hand, he cursed.

"Damn it, we should have known that we didn't want a big bucket of popcorn..."

Putting her favorite H\u0026U popcorn on the chair, the woman with pink braids raised her butt, took her VISA, and walked towards the beverage vending machine where several customers were already waiting...

Standing at the door of the screening room, looking at the vending machine that had been used more than a dozen times within 15 minutes of the movie opening, Evans's fat face trembled.

Take a deep breath, and waved to the obviously confused popcorn guy next to him.

"Go! Call that idiot Trevor and have them go to the printing shop early tomorrow morning. Ask him to remake the premiere poster of "Buried" so big that it can hang from the second floor of the theater to the first floor! Before ten o'clock tomorrow morning, replace the current poster that can't even cover my wife's butt! I also want a huge "Buried" flyer that can even cover Kardashian's butt. Find those kids wandering the streets in Sacramento, and stuff these damn flyers into every mailbox in every community in the next week!"

"FK! I swear, this is the first time I love a Chinese movie so much! Look at the embarrassed face on the screen, it looks like God!!!"

...

Beep!

Received the surprise value, 3012920 points!

Shanghai, Dawan Film and Television Center.

Hearing the crisp system deposit prompt beside his ear, Li Youzhi raised his eyebrows.

50,000, 90,000, 120,000,

Wow!

After calculating the surprise value from across the ocean, Li Youzhi couldn't help but laugh.

Wow, the first screening in North America should not have ended yet, with a total of more than 120,000 viewers, giving him a surprise value of more than 3 million.

Damn, it seems that the reputation of "Buried" in the United States has been stabilized!

"Xiaozhi, Xiaozhi?"

Just when Li Youzhi was secretly happy about the premiere in the United States, the beautiful host who was responsible for organizing the premiere ceremony called him twice.

His thoughts were interrupted, and Li Youzhi, who came back to his senses, looked at the host and made an apologetic gesture.

"What was the question just now?"

"Oh, it's like this, Xiaozhi. Our audience is very curious and asked you what made you so confident that "Buried" would hit the Oscars. Can you tell us in detail what you thought and felt about this film as a director and starring actor after the filming of this film?"

Nodding to the host, Li Youzhi, who was standing on the stage, picked up the microphone and swept his eyes to the audience.

"In fact, the Oscar impact started with a mistake made by my fans."

"Hahahaha,"

Seeing his formal response in public, the scene immediately burst into laughter.

Looking at the audience who were smiling secretly, Li Youzhi was amused:

"At first, everyone made a poster with AI for fun, and then irresponsibly praised it, saying that this film would be my Oscar-winning work. At that time, I didn't think so. After all, the Oscars have been reluctant to give the Academy Awards, the highest honor representing the American film industry, to Chinese artists for so many years. Even Mr. Bruce Lee, who has passed away, was excluded from the Oscar Lifetime Achievement Award for various reasons."

"But."

Looking at the audience gently, Li Youzhi smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"Rules always need to be broken, and the world will not always stay in a certain concept or state. Although the production cost of "Buried" is not high, I think I told a good story and gave a self-satisfactory interpretation of the key characters in this story. In my opinion, the film awards are to commend and affirm those who have made efforts for the film industry, to increase the possibilities of this industry, and to make this art more colorful."

"If you put aside all factors such as ethnicity, skin color, and politics, I have confidence in "Buried"! To borrow a famous saying from Rome, God's things are God's, and Caesar's things are Caesar's. If politics belongs to politics, art belongs to art. I think this year's Oscars should have a share of "Buried". "

At this point, Li Youzhi smiled modestly and waved to all the audience in the audience.

"Of course... I don't have the final say on this matter. After all, art that the masses like is the real art! This applies to any country, any region, and any era! And today, the judgment of the quality of "Buried Alive" is not mine, but yours!"

With a wave of Li Youzhi's hand, all the lights on the scene went out.

The curtain behind him also suddenly opened...