[The Epoch Times, February 17, 2024]On February 17, the producers of the famous Hong Kong actor Andy Lau’s new film “Mr. Red Carpet” announced that the film would be withdrawn from the 2024 New Year schedule. Netizens revealed that the film was scheduled to be shown in most theaters in the middle of the night or early in the morning, and its withdrawal may be due to poor box office performance. Previously, the industry estimated that the film’s losses might be the largest of the year.
On the 17th, the news that Andy Lau’s new film “Mr. Red Carpet” has been withdrawn from the New Year’s release was on the hot search list on mainland social platforms. The film’s producer announced that after careful consideration, the movie “Mr. Red Carpet” will be withdrawn from the New Year’s schedule and will be rescheduled to be released to everyone.
“Mr. Red Carpet” was released on the Chinese New Year schedule on February 10, the first day of the Lunar New Year, and was canceled within a week of its broadcast.
Netizens revealed that “Mr. Red Carpet” has a small number of films and a poor scheduling time. Most of them are scheduled to be screened in the middle of the night or early in the morning by theaters. In addition, every New Year’s film has comedy elements, and the marketing power of Andy Lau’s film is not as good as other films in the same period. . Netizens speculated that the film was withdrawn due to poor box office performance.
According to data disclosed in the financial report of the producer “Huanxi Media”, the production cost of “Mr. Red Carpet” was 260 million yuan, including a production fee of 20.86 million yuan, director Ning Hao’s remuneration of 24.6 million yuan, and the protagonist’s remuneration of 60.7 million yuan. From the time it was released to the 16th, the box office of the film was only over 73 million yuan, and the film studio’s share was only 25.63 million yuan. It has already incurred a loss of 234.37 million yuan. The film’s studio share is not enough to pay Andy Lau’s salary of about 60 million yuan.
According to industry estimates, in addition to the remuneration of the director and the first starring actor, plus other expenses, the total cost of “Mr. Red Carpet” must have exceeded 260 million yuan. Even if a film costs 260 million yuan, it needs to earn at least 1 billion yuan in box office to ensure break-even. The film’s total box office will not exceed 100 million yuan. In this case, its losses may become the largest of the year.
This comedy film, produced and starring Andy Lau, tells the story of the king “Liu Weichi” who, in order to win the best actor award at the film festival, starred in director Lin Hao’s rural film, but unexpectedly triggered a series of absurd farces. Andy Lau and other actors had been diligently participating in test screenings, but it was difficult to recover from the dismal box office performance.
Except for “Mr. Red Carpet”, four of the eight films released in mainland China since the first day of the Lunar New Year have been withdrawn. The other three films are “Bajie: The Lower Realm of the Canopy”, “Let’s Shake the Sun Together” and “Huang Pi: The God of Wealth Cat Descends from the Sky”.
Editor in charge: Xiao Lusheng
