Facing the box office forecast of 2.5 billion, they all said ＂it doesn’t matter＂？

Special feature of 1905 film network December 14th, three days before the release. Producer Zhang Miao and the director were already sitting in Beijing’s wonderful office at 8: 00 a.m. and accepted an exclusive interview with "". Zhang Miao and Sun Haipeng gave their own answers to the question that they had been predicted to get 2.5 billion+box office before it was released.

In the last two weeks, an animated cartoon has been hotly debated in the industry. This movie called "The Lion Boy" may not be too big for ordinary people. But as soon as I hear that the "trader" behind it is Zhang Miao, many people in the industry will open their eyes and want to see what new ways he will play cartoons this time.

The filmmaker, who was in charge of the production and distribution of films, created an animation about Lingnan lion dance in two years. He said, I really want to see 24 months to challenge the limits of China’s animation industry.

Now this animated film will be released this Friday. After a large-scale screening last weekend, The Lion Boy has not only become a "quasi-explosion" in the eyes of the industry, but also scored 8.3 in advance on the film scoring platform.

Zhang Miao, the producer of The Lion Boy, and Sun Haipeng, the director, accepted an exclusive interview with Today’s Film Review and talked about the secrets of the lion’s awakening. When we mentioned that the box office forecast for movies has been greatly increased to 2.5 billion, director Sun Haipeng said that we should face it with a normal heart.

But why does the forecast leap from 50 million to 1 billion or even 2.5 billion?

In the face of the questioning of "Today’s Film Review", Zhang Miao said: "The dynamic range of the box office predicted by the industry is indeed very large, that is, it is very likely, but at the same time the starting point is very relatively low. Then this just shows that the film is facing this uncertainty in the market now. But the certainty is that this is a good movie, and the audience’s word of mouth should be overwhelmingly good. "

The 24-month cycle of "three no products" challenges the industrial limit

"Three no products means no card, no IP and no traffic." Referring to the film produced by himself, Zhang Miao described it like this. For him, the launch of "The Lion Boy" is facing a very high threshold for the audience to watch movies. In the early stage of the film’s publicity, he decided that "The Lion Boy" didn’t get the fulcrum of early attention, so he could only make a film.

It was August 8, 2019, and he met the director Sun Haipeng in Beijing. Originally, Zhang Miao planned to fly to Guangdong two days in advance to meet the director, but because of work matters, she cancelled her air ticket and invited the director and producer to Beijing.

Talking with the director about his goal, Zhang Miao said: "Since it is my first work on the animation track, I hope it will start at a high level." In less than an hour, they set the direction of the film together, decided not to do fairy tales, and wanted to try realistic themes in the field of cartoons and pay attention to the present society.

But Zhang Miao challenged the director — — He hopes to complete the production of an animated film in 24 months. For this kind of film, the production cycle of 24 months is definitely a limit.

"The average animated film takes three to five years from planning to completion. Then when we talked about this project at that time, there was only one concept: lion dance plus teenagers, and then nothing. From that time on, it was really a miracle for us to finish it in two years. " Director Sun Haipeng explained.

"Three Salted Fish" to Create Realistic Burning

It was that meeting in Beijing that Zhang Miao, director Sun Haipeng and another producer decided on the theme of lion dance and teenagers. Zhang Miao insisted on telling a story about a teenager. Sun Haipeng mentioned the lion dance. In Zhang Miao’s mind, lion dance is a sport belonging to teenagers. After setting this general direction, he felt that he suddenly saw Sun Haipeng being ignited as a creator.

Zhang Miao even used the metaphor of meeting Sun Haipeng at the beginning of 2015: "It was at that moment, like when I saw" Wolf Warriors 2 ",for example, in 2015, I knew him, and I was very fortunate to know Jason Wu. I haven’t known each other for a long time, so I always say this sentence — — He may have brought me a state of being a creator at that time, which impressed me deeply. You saw a creator, who was burning up in an unprecedented, very, very in place creative state. When moving in one direction, you felt that the whole project was shining. "

Many viewers who have seen movies have also been ignited by this story. About the growth of "waste wood" teenagers, about how salted fish turn over. China’s animation towards realism really touched a group of people with the stories of teenagers.

In Zhang Miao’s mind, when he just decided on his creative direction, he and the director and producer were like three salted fish, waiting for their own opportunity to turn over. For Zhang Miao, he is a newcomer who has just stepped into the animation track. For directors and producers, it is to start from the previous creation and wait for the opportunity to be recognized.

Recalling the days before the production of "The Lion Boy", Sun Haipeng said that he and his team had entered a trough because of the unsatisfactory last work. The team was confused and didn’t know what to do next, so it was like getting lost. After a year, they finally met "The Lion Boy" and completed the film in two years.

Sun Haipeng likes this story very much. The growth of a teenager is like a fuse, which makes the lion drum beat, the action become handsome and the movie ignite. "It is a movie. Even if we are realistic, we still hope to create some visual wonders. The lion dance can actually provide this thing. "

Young chinese in the historical process of the opening of the juvenile universe

What "The Lion Boy" wants to express, in Sun Haipeng’s view, is that at the end of the film, A Juan didn’t care about the gains and losses, and then the drums sounded: "As long as there are dreams in our hearts, we will always be teenagers. No matter how ordinary people are, there is always a glorious moment. Don’t give up the strength and dreams in your heart. "

After The Lion Boy, Zhang Miao and Sun Haipeng have begun to plan the "Youth Universe". They hope to ignite the blood of the audience with juvenile stories of different historical stages.

In Zhang Miao’s vision, in the first phase of China Youth Universe, there will be three live-action movies and three or four animated works: "In this one, the first thing is to tell the story of teenagers. If you look at the story of teenagers from different places, it must be that the times are different." Hero Boy "is the present teenager, maybe the past teenager, but the future teenager."

The next animation is likely to introduce a second juvenile image. But Zhang Miao and the director have not yet decided on a specific name. Zhang Miao revealed that although he is "a teenager in the past", the special China shows a very strong upward spirit.

In his view, Chinese will always inspire young people, whether it is "a strong teenager makes a strong country" or "just a classmate and a teenager, in full bloom." These words are still inspiring Chinese today. Zhang Miao said: "You see that there are such teenagers in every era, struggling for the progress of that era and their own dreams. Therefore, I especially hope to have more works to show the upward spirit of the Chinese nation and the temperament of this teenager. "