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The topic effect, fans pay, stars cross the line and professional directors fight in the ring, asking for money or quality

I don't know when it started, the director of the Chinese film industry is no longer in the same vein, but instead star actors are cross-industry directors.

And their box office completely overwhelmed the big directors from the science class.

For example, Jia Ling, who wrote and directed the film "Hello, Li Huanying", this is her debut film and the only work at present, but she alone has become the world's highest-grossing female director.

Wu Jing, relying on "Wolf Warrior" and "Wolf Warrior II", broke the box office record of the Chinese mainland market and so on.

On the one hand, this shows that Chinese film directors have "de-professionalized", and on the other hand, it gives a signal:

The actor crossed over to become a director and went to the box office.

So the question is, if a star crosses over to be a director, do you want box office or quality?

01

Deng Chao, in the Spring Festival stall one year, folded all the word of mouth he had accumulated.

On January 25, Deng Chao's self-directed and self-starred movie "Chinese Table Tennis Jedi Strikes Back" released a notice: On February 17, the cinema will meet again.

Deng Chao quit the Spring Festival stall!

In fact, the release of this film was full of twists and turns, originally announced to be released on the first day of the new year, but for unknown reasons, the film was urgently modified, and finally released on the third day of the new year.

But at this time, "Manjiang Red" and "The Wandering Earth" had an excellent reputation, and "Manjiang Hong" won 460 million box office in one day, and has exceeded 3 billion box office so far.

In contrast, Deng Chao's "Chinese Table Tennis" received 4000W box office in two days, which seemed lonely.

So he could only avoid it and re-release.

But no matter how you struggle, Deng Chao's directing road is not good. Why is that?

In fact, as early as 2011, after Deng Chao left Huayi Brothers, he registered his own media company, and his partner Yu Baimei produced the company's first movie - "Breakup Master".

This is also the first time Deng Chao has directed and acted himself.

Although the script could not withstand scrutiny, Deng Chao still earned 660 million at the box office with his popularity.

Excellent actors and the title of big-selling director have cast a filter on the audience's imagination of Deng Chao in all aspects.

But Deng Chao's purpose is simple and pure: to harvest the market.

The following year, he partnered with his wife Sun Li to direct another "Villain Angel", which cost extremely low, had a very poor reputation, and the box office was as high as 648 million.

At that time, Deng Chao went farther and farther on the road of "invincible", and his reputation was naturally exhausted. So in 2019, he reflected on himself, turned to the road of family affection, and directed a "Galaxy Tuition School".

Deng Chao's reputation has not warmed up, but compared with the first two films, this work is obviously more in line with the "public taste", and eventually won 878 million box office.

After "deceiving the audience" of 2 billion box office, when director Deng Chao is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind for the audience is the word "bad film".

Coupled with the work "Chinese Table Tennis" he brought this time, it has to be reminiscent of the movie "Winning the Championship", Zhuyu is in front, and he can't please him.

Deng Chao is a good actor, and the audience has not given Deng Chao a chance, but unfortunately he can't grasp it.

02

Also across the line, director Xu Zheng came prepared.

When he was an actor, he began to learn the work that a director and producer should do, and he also served as a producer and director assistant without a name.

In 2010, Xu Zheng looked at the current Chinese film genre and accurately investigated the audience's preferences, and he decided to create a road comedy.

Whether it is the script, shooting scene or post-announcement, Xu Zheng has considered and tested again and again.

The result is obvious, after its release, "Thai" became the first Chinese-language film in the history of Chinese cinema to exceed 1 billion at the box office, and the film crew was also received by the Thai Prime Minister, making him the first Chinese director to be received by the Thai Prime Minister.

In contrast, Xu Zheng's directorial road has a higher starting point and higher achievements than Deng Chao, and his road is also smooth sailing.

Since then, a series of movies "Hong Kong" and "Mother" have made him famous in the directing industry.

Xu Zheng has been confident along the way, he regarded the work as a "commodity", made countless feasibility reports, analyzed the audience's preferences, and had both jokes and chicken soup for the soul in the film, which not only ensured the positive views of the film, but also was worthy of the income of investors.

No matter when you talk about it, Xu Zheng is a successful "commercial film director".

Perhaps Xu Zheng also knows that this will not go far, so he began to transform, directing the 70th anniversary tribute film "Me and My Motherland" (winning the championship) unit, and the following year, he directed the main theme film units such as "Me and My Hometown" and "Me and My Fathers".

Xu Zheng has spent 5 years occupying a place in the Chinese film director industry, and can discuss the future development direction of Chinese commercial films with Chen Kexin, Chen Sicheng and others.

This also reflects from the side how simple it is for stars to become directors, they have natural advantages, and as for the quality of the film, it is uneven.

said that Xu Zheng is a successful commercial film director, but his "Thai" is not a classic road movie; Deng Chao's "Breakup Master" and "Villain Angel" do not have any "nutrition" at all.

This also exposes that star directors who rely on market success have another common drawback - they cannot finish from the beginning.

03

As we all know, directing is a job that worries about losing weight.

There are very few stars who can put down their glamorous star lives and devote themselves to studying, and it is not nothing.

"King of Comedy" Stephen Chow, starting from the trick, directed and acted by himself, and learned from the life of small people, so as to bring the audience one after another works with laughter and tears;

"Ghost director" Jiang Wen, his depth of thinking is not what ordinary directors can achieve, so that many audiences can't understand the meaning it expresses, but his genius scheduling has to be admired, and he can perfectly handle the cast and crew present.

But these two people are one in a million, and the gold washed by the big waves.

After their success, they did not consume their own fame, and have been studying on the road of "cultivating" director.

However, even if a star director wants to start from the beginning, it depends on talent.

Xu Zheng's "囧" series made him famous; Wu Jing's "Wolf Warrior" made him a successful director, but in addition, what other masterpieces do they have in the directing world?

It is said that it is easy to surpass others, but the difficult thing is to surpass yourself.

For the star cross-line director, after the success of the first film, the audience will have a second work, but at this time, the star director's best technique has been played, how to maintain the stamina of the second work?

Jia Ling is a good example.

In 2021, just survived a "cold winter" in the film industry, Jia Ling took her debut film "Hello, Li Huanying" to kill the siege, this film focuses on "mother-daughter love", the story is not novel, but she cleverly resonates with the audience.

In the film, Jia Ling's laughter and tears show her sincerity to her mother, and without deliberate sensationalism, she enters the hearts of the audience, allowing more children to take their parents into the theater and pay for her.

With this film, Jia Ling has become the world's highest-grossing female director, perfectly from actor to director.

However, her stamina is obviously insufficient.

In the following year, she did not have any "action", thinking back that "Hello, Li Huanying" was adapted from a sketch into a movie, and Jia Ling must not repeat the same trick.

Without strength, whether Jia Ling can surpass herself is a question.

Speaking of this, some people will definitely say that the great directors Zhang Yimou, Feng Xiaogang, and Chen Kaige are not also making progress in exploration? Their work is also mixed.

04

Take Zhang Yimou, for example, once said, "I am not necessarily the best director in China, but I must be the most diligent director."

Since he directed "Red Sorghum" in 1987, a new film will be released in an average of one and a half years, among which he has also served as the chief director of large-scale events such as the Olympic Games and the Winter Olympics.

So the words can't be too full, although Zhang Yimou has been ridiculed in recent years as "Jiang Lang is exhausted", he is 72 years old after all, the key is that his works can also rank in the history of film.

The "Manjiang Hong" that is being released makes the audience feel that Chinese movies are warming up, and Zhang Yimou is still that national teacher!

Nowadays, more and more stars cross the industry and professional directors grab jobs, and producers see their own "star effect" and tend all their resources towards them, resulting in professional directors falling behind from absorbing investment.

And even if the director fails, the stars can go back to filming, which can fill the deficit of the producer.

People say that living to death, with a way back, is naturally not conducive to creation.

Returning to celebrities as directors across industries, in this era of resource integration, the audience supports the literary and art world with a hundred flowers blooming and a hundred schools of thought contending, but now it is more: the world is bustling, all for profit; All the world's soil is for the good.

The audience is not a fool, who cares, at a glance, I don't know if the star directors understand?

Text| Apa

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