The movie "Mr. Red Carpet" directed by Ning Hao and starring Andy Lau was finally released after the Spring Festival was withdrawn, and the "Meet Again" version of the finalized poster was finally released, which is scheduled to be re-released on March 15.
"Mr. Red Carpet" is the second collaboration between Ning Hao and Andy Lau after 17 years, and the movie takes the wonders of the entertainment industry as the starting point and digs deep into the theme of "communication". Andy Lau played the out-of-fashion movie star Liu Weichi, who wants to win international awards through rural themes, and during the filming of the film, he and the director, investors, wife, and bloggers have different relationships and communication problems at different levels, which led to more and more confusion, and finally ended with an out-of-control pig jumping on the table.
In addition to the theme of communication, "Mr. Red Carpet" also presents a lot of "gossip" in the film and television industry, and accurately projects reality. For example, there is the problem of celebrity hidden marriage and celebrity extramarital affairs that Andy Lau generously talked about in the interview, and the public opinion of horse abuse caused by Liu Weichi's fall off the horse in the film is an accurate projection of the dog abuse turmoil caused by Ning Hao's filming of "Crazy Alien", at that time, Ning Hao even invited ** to visit his home, so that netizens could clearly see that they were taking care of the dog, so that they could get rid of the overwhelming ** encirclement.
However, it is a pity that such a movie has not been widely recognized by the audience, and the elegance and decency of the film have not been maintained. The reason for the box office failure of "Mr. Red Carpet" during the Spring Festival is obvious.
On the one hand, it is attributed to the movie itself, "Mr. Red Carpet" has a Douban score of 68, almost the lowest rated one among several movies in the Spring Festival file, the audience will have a big psychological gap when watching this movie with the expectation of watching Ning Hao's comedy, the "elegant comedy" in the box office propaganda is different from the hilarious comedy, there is no black humor that Ning Hao is good at and the laughter brought by the dislocation of the relationship, the soothing rhythm also weakens the presentation of comedy elements, and the small climax of beating investors is more like the absurdity of watching European movies, rather than the enjoyment of Ning Hao's comedy.
From the perspective of the content of the movie itself, it is difficult to express the theme of "communication", and the higher viewing threshold is not easy for the audience to get the core expression of the movie.
On the other hand, it is to blame for publicity. Compared with several other strong distribution companies such as Maoyan, Taopiaopiao, Guangguang, and Lianrui, the distribution company of "Mr. Red Carpet" is too weak. Others can send a notice to the theater to directly request that the film be scheduled according to the proportion, and in the end, even if this so-called "split distribution" is stopped, the theater will also give a few thin faces. The distribution company of "Mr. Red Carpet" is Shangshi Culture, a young company established by Ning Hao himself, which is a little less interesting in terms of resources and contacts in the circle, and the theater does not have to give too much face, so it lost at the starting line three days before the release, and it became worse and worse in the next few days until it was withdrawn.
Some people may think, isn't it just a movie? The box office was already more than 84 million when it was withdrawn, this literary and artistic movie will not lose money, why bother withdrawing and rescheduling?
It's wrong to think so, "Mr. Red Carpet" is under a lot of pressure, not to mention the movie with the highest investment during the Spring Festival, it can also squeeze into the top three, and the box office must be sold at least 900 million to recoup, and today's box office of more than 84 million is not enough for Ning Hao's directorial fee.
We also mentioned it in a previous article. Huanxi Media, the producer of "Mr. Red Carpet", has issued a production schedule, and the total production cost of this film is as high as 2600 million!
Among them, the pre-planning, development and supporting role remuneration of the project add up to 39 million; The cost of the protagonist, that is, Andy Lau's salary is as high as 60 million, Ning Hao's director fee is 24.6 million, and the labor of other departments is 20 million, and the remaining costs of 7788 rounds together reach 2600 million, and according to the industry rules, Andy Lau's 60 million has been all in the pocket when the movie is finished.
The publicity and distribution fees of "Mr. Red Carpet" mainly include the main creative roadshow, material delivery, short ** marketing, and some ticket supplements made in the early stage, etc., conservatively estimated that the box office of the movie will sell more than 900 million, and the film will be able to return to its original cost and make a slight profit.
In addition to the visible pressure at the box office, the main investor of "Mr. Red Carpet" is Huanxi Media, Film 2The production fee of 600 million yuan is also covered by Huanxi Media, and this is a listed company, and the current situation of the film directly affects the stock price of Huanxi Media.
After Mr. Red Carpet announced its withdrawal, Huanxi Media's share price fell to 058 yuan, and then it slumped, as of press time, the share price of Huanxi Media was 056 yuan, compared with the announcement of the withdrawal of the file further down.
In addition to "Mr. Red Carpet", Huanxi Media has no plans for the release of other movies in the near future, so if you want to revive the stock price, you can only use the release of movies, which should be the reason why "Mr. Red Carpet" is withdrawn quickly and rescheduled quickly.
In addition, it is also necessary to consider the cost of Huanxi Media's investment costs.
To put it simply, every money invested has a cost, whether it is financing or borrowing, 2600 million is not a small amount, and interest will be generated every day, even if this is 2600 million is the cash flow of Huanxi Media, if you don't invest in this movie, you will at least benefit from bank financial management, right?
And when a movie is released, it is not that it can be distributed to the investor immediately after the box office is sold, and the rest of the money will be sent to the investor after the film is released, and various accounts and taxes will be deducted.
It's just that the temporary retreat and return again are another round of blow to the audience's confidence, with "Dune 2" on March 8 and "Kung Fu Panda 4" on March 22, there is not much time and space left for "Mr. Red Carpet", is it really a good choice to release on March 15?