Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 486 sold out again.
Every June, during graduation season, the Beijing Film Academy holds a graduation project screening.

For example, the directing department selects about ten outstanding graduation works from among many students each year for a public screening lasting one to two days.

In previous years, these outstanding graduation projects were mostly short films and a few documentaries.

It's not that we don't choose feature films, but without special circumstances, a graduating student, even a graduate student, wouldn't have the funds or connections to make a regular feature film.

Of course, there are exceptions.

Cao Yang's undergraduate and master's graduation projects were both feature films, and they were the kind of films that obtained release permits and even won international awards.

Well, Cao Yang's situation is a bit too special, but there are other cases that aren't so special.

Some established actors or directors, or industry professionals who have worked for a period of time, pursue graduate studies at the Beijing Film Academy for various purposes, such as improving their academic qualifications or seeking connections within the academy. Their graduation project may then be a feature film.

This situation is actually quite rare. Every year, when outstanding works are screened, for example, there are ten works, of which about eight are short films and the remaining one or two are documentaries.

Because of its unique nature, documentaries don't require the same stringent conditions as films. They have lower requirements for camera equipment, lighting, and the on-screen personnel and crew.

The main reason is that the funding requirements are low, so the documentaries tend to be longer.

This year is another special year, so many people in the industry are paying close attention to the Beijing Film Academy, especially the screening announcements for the directing department.

However, amidst the high level of anticipation, the directing department has yet to release any information regarding the screenings, which has inevitably sparked much speculation.

The directing department wasn't unwilling to release information; they were simply waiting for Cao Yang's documentary.

Actually, before "A Bite of China" was produced, the school leaders knew the approximate length of Cao Yang's documentary. Logically, knowing the length would have allowed them to arrange the screening.

The key point is that "A Bite of China" is to be made into a seven-episode documentary, with a total runtime of nearly six hours... which is almost the total runtime of all other works shown in the exhibition.

Are we going to show "A Bite of China" for almost six hours?
This... what kind of graduation project gets screened for five or six hours?

There's no precedent for this.

Finally, after consulting with Cao Yang, the school leaders decided to watch the footage from "A Bite of China" before making a decision.

Only after determining the content of Cao Yang's documentary can a decision be made on whether to select one or two episodes for screening, or to re-edit one or two hours of content for screening.

In fact, Cao Yang could have finished producing "A Bite of China" a few days earlier.

As June began, "The Hangover," produced and written by Cao Yang and directed by Ning Hao, was already in its final promotional period and was set to be released in North America on June 5.

This film was co-produced by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures. Although the investment was not large, it was highly regarded in the industry because Cao Yang served as producer and screenwriter.

Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures held a fairly large premiere two days before the film's release.

Ning Hao went to Hollywood to promote the movie the day after he finished filming the episodes of "A Bite of China" and met up with Cao Yang and Lao Tian.

Cao Yang has been busy with "A Bite of China" and hasn't gone to promote the movie.

However, it would be a shame not to attend the premiere of "The Hangover," after all, it's Ning Hao's first Hollywood film, and Cao Yang will receive 20% of the box office revenue from it.

So in early June, he went to the United States to attend the premiere of "The Hangover".

With Cao Yang's involvement, the level of attention from the media and other parties will be different.

After attending the premiere of "The Hangover," Cao Yang gave an interview. He originally wanted to return to Beijing immediately, but Disney CEO Robert Iger, knowing that he had come to Los Angeles, specifically sought him out for a chat.

As the head of Disney, Robert Iger has been very busy lately.

The fact that he specifically set aside other matters to meet with Cao Yang meant that the things they discussed were definitely not trivial; they mainly concerned Amazing Entertainment and movies.

Robert Iger told Cao Yang that Disney had basically reached an agreement with Marvel Entertainment, but since the deal involved billions of dollars, it certainly wouldn't be completed in a short time.

But the agreements have all been signed, so there's basically no chance of anything changing.

Robert Iger and Cao Yang discussed several film projects this time.

The sequel to "Pirates of the Caribbean" is already agreed upon, there's nothing more to discuss.

He was talking to Cao Yang about three movies: Iron Man 2, Captain America, and Thor.

Before Disney reached an acquisition agreement with Marvel, Marvel had already reached an agreement with Paramount for these three films. So even if Disney successfully acquired Marvel, it would not be able to prevent these three films from being made in collaboration with Paramount.

What's even more frustrating is that all three movies are still in the PowerPoint stage. In other words, apart from Iron Man 2, which may be officially approved this year due to the success of the first movie, the decision on when the other two movies will be approved is not up to Marvel.

Surprise had an agreement with Paramount because they lacked funds to invest in the films. Paramount held the distribution rights to the three films and had a maximum investment share of 40%.

This puts Marvel, or rather Disney after acquiring Marvel, in a very passive position.

If you're making any of these three movies, you can't avoid Paramount.

While the success of Iron Man has shown Disney a possibility, overall, Disney certainly hasn't truly realized just how big that possibility is.

Robert Iger approached Cao Yang with the intention of getting him involved in the three films, hoping to leverage Cao Yang's influence to pressure Paramount into making concessions.

In other words, Robert Iger's desire to negotiate with Paramount is not to kick Paramount out, as that is virtually impossible.

Instead, it was Paramount that made concessions. Disney's confidence stemmed from its ability to bring in Cao Yang to oversee these three films.

Don't underestimate the phrase "invite Cao Yang to take charge." It's worth noting that Cao Yang has never had a failed film, whether it's an art film or a commercial film.

In addition, he helped Warner Bros.' comic book adaptations "The Dark Knight" and "Joker" become huge hits. Currently, in the entire Hollywood, who is more suitable for comic book adaptations than Cao Yang?
This is the source of Disney's, or rather Robert Iger's, confidence in negotiating with Paramount.

Of course, this is contingent on Cao Yang agreeing to get involved in these three films.

Cao Yang thought about it and decided that getting involved was acceptable, and serving as producer and screenwriter wouldn't be a problem either.

He has neither a production company nor a distribution company in Hollywood. His relationships with Disney and other film companies are purely cooperative and do not pose a threat to them.

Therefore, even if the Marvel Cinematic Universe's "Avengers" series were all brought together, Disney would only be happy and wouldn't target them personally.

Of course, since they also hold the film adaptation rights to many Marvel "heroes," if the three movies, Iron Man 2, Captain America, and Thor, are all successful, the film adaptation rights will be valuable, but there will also be some trouble.

There is a solution: once these three movies are successful, we can talk to Disney about the Marvel Cinematic Universe and come up with a comprehensive cooperation plan. This way, we can sign a good contract and avoid being targeted.

In fact, when Cao Yang acquired the adaptation rights to those amazing "heroes," he had already devised a strategy, and more than one.

I just didn't expect there to be three more now.

Cao Yang agreed to Robert Iger's request and let him talk to Paramount. There's a high chance he can get Paramount to make concessions.

As for what conditions I can get after Cao Yang gets involved, we'll discuss that in the three-way negotiations.

There's no need to worry about Disney and Paramount teaming up to pressure Cao Yang, since everything is based on his involvement in these three films. Without Cao Yang, everything Disney and Paramount discussed would be worthless, and Paramount would never make any concessions.

When Cao Yang returned to Beijing to continue producing "A Bite of China," the North American opening weekend box office results for "The Hangover" were released.

The Hangover will be released on June 5th, which is a Friday.

Because the film contained too much profanity, numerous sexually suggestive scenes, drug abuse, and violence, it was rated R.

R-rated films require viewers under the age of 17 to be accompanied by a parent or guardian, so being rated R will definitely affect box office revenue.

Before the film's release, some authoritative forecasting agencies did not believe that this film by a new director would become a new blockbuster. Even though Cao Yang served as producer and screenwriter, they generally believed that the film's final box office would be around $7000 million.

Is $7000 million a small amount?

If a movie with a budget of $3000 million grosses $7000 million at the North American box office, it's a huge success, right?

But considering that Cao Yang was the producer and screenwriter, $7000 million in box office revenue... isn't really that much.

After reading the news released by those authoritative prediction agencies, Ning Hao was at a loss for words, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

If The Hangover's North American box office ultimately reaches $7000 million, then its global box office will most likely be around $1.4 million.

A $3000 million investment and $1.4 million in global box office revenue—you're telling me this is the kind of box office success achieved only because a leading North American forecasting agency wasn't optimistic?

Can this world get any better?

If this is considered a prediction of such high box office numbers under unfavorable circumstances, then what about other directors?
Okay, whatever other directors think, whatever their jealousy, the box office results for "The Hangover" over the weekend are out.

Building on its strong opening day gross of $1650 million, The Hangover raked in an unexpected $4500 million over its opening weekend, surpassing Disney's animated blockbuster Up, which had been released a week earlier, to take the top spot.

It's worth noting that although this is only the second week of its theatrical run, what was the production cost of "Up"?
This film was produced by Pixar Animation, a subsidiary of Disney, and its production cost was $1.75 million, excluding marketing and distribution.

The fact that "The Hangover" managed to top the weekend box office charts, surpassing "Up" to take first place, was definitely beyond most people's expectations.

With $4500 million in box office revenue over its opening weekend, The Hangover became a dark horse at the box office.

Various forecasting agencies immediately adjusted their box office predictions for "The Hangover" from $7000 million to $1.5 million, more than doubling the estimate.

As soon as the box office figures for "The Hangover" were released on its opening day, Ning Hao, disregarding the time difference, excitedly called Cao Yang to share the good news.

He has almost no idea about the film's box office performance now, because he's a bit bewildered by the predictions from forecasting agencies.

However, Ning Hao still has a clear understanding of the $1650 million earned on the first day in North America.

What does this indicate?
Huge explosion!
With an excited heart and trembling hands, Ning Hao didn't care about the damn time difference anymore. His junior uncle was his... anything was fine with him!
The Hangover is rated R in North America, so it would definitely have to be censored if it were imported to China.

Even if cuts are necessary, China Film Group will definitely import it.

However, Cao Yang did not ask China Film Group to release "The Hangover" immediately after the North American release date, but instead wanted to postpone the release for a while.

Furthermore, the version released in China is not the North American version.

Since Ning Hao has edited a multi-narrative version himself, Cao Yang plans to wait until he finishes producing "A Bite of China" and see how this version is. If it's good, he will arrange for this version to be released in China.

When editing the multi-narrative version, Cao Yang asked Ning Hao to take into account the domestic release, so Ning Hao probably didn't include many scenes that were banned in China.

However, Cao Yang hasn't seen the details yet; everything will have to wait until "A Bite of China" is finished before we can say anything.

The production of "A Bite of China" was completed on June 18th.

The Hangover has been showing in North America for almost two weeks, and the box office figures for the second weekend were released on the 14th.

Something happened that puzzled many people.

"The Hangover," being a somewhat "vulgar" comedy, should theoretically see a significant drop in its second week, usually no less than 40%.

But what about The Hangover?

The second weekend saw another impressive $3340 million, once again surpassing "Up" ($3050 million) to retain its position as the number one weekend box office winner.

Compared to last week, the drop in "Up" is already very low, only a little over 30%, while "The Hangover" is even more dramatic, with only 26%.

A mere 26% drop—that's incredibly low!

It's worth noting that most films that achieve this level of success are those with phenomenal word-of-mouth.

However, the reception of "The Hangover" is somewhat divided.

Professional media outlets were somewhat displeased with Cao Yang's vulgar comedy, deeming it below par and at best a "passable" comedy film, lacking any substance.

However, the focus of the debate among professional media outlets is that the film is too vulgar and too deliberately pandering, but the overall quality of the film is still considered above average.

For example, Variety described The Hangover as "a dirty but ingenious narrative".

However, in terms of public opinion, it differs from professional reviews. Ordinary viewers almost universally gave it a very high score, saying it was a movie that would make them laugh heartily in the theater.

This left Ning Hao dumbfounded, exclaiming that he couldn't understand it at all.

In Ning Hao's opinion, many plot points in "The Hangover" were too deliberate and direct, so why did it receive such good reviews from the audience?

What Ning Hao found even more incomprehensible was that, according to internal data from Warner's marketing department, about 23% of viewers had watched the show more than once!
What the hell kind of logic is this?
How can a comedy that is obviously designed to be funny and is also vulgar make the audience watch it two or even three times?
can't read!
Then, he read Warner's analysis report and had some vague insights.

This summer's movie season is packed with special effects blockbusters, such as "Wolverine," "Terminator Salvation," "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "Star Trek," and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

However, there are very few comedy films.

There are even fewer comedies that can make audiences laugh out loud.

What do the audience need?
Americans, still recovering from the economic crisis, need to vent their frustrations, laugh heartily, and relax without restraint.

And The Hangover did just that.

Warner's report not only impressed Warner's executives with Cao Yang's accurate grasp of the audience's psychology after the outbreak of the economic crisis, but also made Ning Hao extremely grateful!

Junior Uncle is willing to write such a "considerate" script that is not liked by professionals in order to have a good start in Hollywood. This is what it means to be a second parent!
In China, people were only slightly surprised by the huge success of "The Hangover" in North America.

After all, it's a movie produced by Director Cao; I'm used to it.

Of course, there has been a lot of coverage about Ning Hao, after all, he is another director who has achieved great success at the Hollywood box office, although most people think that he is "not very good" under Cao Yang's help.

The Beijing Film Academy was surprised by the huge success of "The Hangover," a "low-budget" film, but not so surprised by Ning Hao's success—isn't it normal for a film produced and written by Cao Yang to be a big hit?
The school leaders and several senior professors from the directing department watched the completed film "A Bite of China" while discussing "The Hangover".

(End of this chapter)