Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 771 is coming soon!

The Wandering Earth was so successful that Li Qiutang is the first person that comes to mind when thinking of any science fiction project.

Currently, the number one science fiction IP in China is "The Three-Body Problem".

To address this issue, Li Qiutang wanted to pour cold water on the fans' enthusiasm, and he didn't mince words, saying directly, "It can't be filmed."

He further explained: "I only have two hands. I'm already busy enough with 'The Wandering Earth,' and I really can't handle 'The Three-Body Problem.' Let another director take over."

Autumn Pictures is still trying to obtain the film rights for "The Three-Body Problem" from Lin Qi. Guo Fan is already aware of the company's actions and now inquires about the progress with the relevant person in charge of the company three or four times a week. He confidently says that he can meet with Lin Qi at any time to explain his understanding of "The Three-Body Problem" and science fiction literature.

But Lin Qi still refused to grant authorization.

"After 'The Wandering Earth,' what are the director's work plans?"

Li Qiutang laughed and said, "The first movie is still showing, and you're already asking about the second one. If you can't get any information about the second one, you're asking me about my other plans. You guys are something else."

The host and the audience laughed. Well, that's what happens when you become famous.

But Li Qiutang still wanted to talk about her plans outside of "The Wandering Earth": "I actually have a lot of ideas, including fantasy, realism, and period drama, but I don't know which one will be made in the end. I still need to do some research."

This is essentially saying nothing; there's very little useful information.

On the opening day of "Alita: Battle Angel," "The Wandering Earth" finally relinquished its 17-day reign as the top-grossing film. "Alita" earned 1.32 million yuan on its opening day, while "The Wandering Earth" earned 9000 million yuan. The total domestic box office officially surpassed 50 billion yuan, making it the second film in Chinese film history to reach 50 billion yuan.

Across the Pacific Ocean, Li Qiutang, who is far away in the United States, sent a hand-drawn poster as a token of her gratitude.

Because it had to avoid the Spring Festival holiday season, "Alita: Battle Angel" was released relatively late in China, but the reviews of the film by domestic audiences were basically the same as those by overseas audiences.

The special effects and art design are indeed amazing, but the story is too thin, the pacing is chaotic, and the narrative lacks originality.

The film grossed less than $3000 million in its first week in North America, and then dropped by 60% in its second week.

Such experiences have also occurred domestically.

On Saturday, the second day, Alita: Battle Angel grossed 1.67 million yuan, and The Wandering Earth grossed 1.3 million yuan.

Does this even make sense?
You've been in theaters for over half a month, how can you still be so persistent?

Without Alita, would you be so arrogant?
On Sunday, Alita: Battle Angel earned $1.36 million and The Wandering Earth earned $1.2 million.

Finished!

With a new film just released, it will definitely have an advantage in terms of screenings. Under such circumstances, even "Alita: Battle Angel" couldn't beat "The Wandering Earth". Seeing these statistics, no one would think that "Alita: Battle Angel" could survive against "The Wandering Earth".

At this point, "The Wandering Earth" had grossed 52.7 billion yuan, still 5 million yuan away from the record set by "Wolf Warrior 2".

Li Qiutang has been in the US with a few crew members these past few days... I guess it's a kind of publicity campaign.

Half strolling around, half promoting.

To be honest, "The Wandering Earth" didn't originally intend to promote itself in North America. It was some Chinese organizations that invited them, saying that it was rare for a film from their motherland to be released in the United States, and they had to come.

Hearing his earnest words, Li Qiutang agreed.

Although Li Qiutang did not agree with using positive reviews from foreigners for film marketing, sometimes his opinion didn't matter. The domestic publicity director took advantage of the director's trip to the United States to bring foreign online reviews to China.

"The trailer looks amazing. Since it's not a Hollywood production, I expect it won't be filled with excessive propaganda and misleading information from the (white) left. I'm going to check it out."

"China is starting to have the confidence to challenge Hollywood!"

"The Wandering Earth will be the best science fiction film in the world in 2019."

"The Chinese have made a science fiction film in their own way."

"China is breaking Hollywood's monopoly."

It must be admitted that the praise from foreigners really does touch the hearts of some people. Completely unaware, Li Qiutang was showing Wu Jing and the others around her lantern entertainment business.

"You've all only heard of my company, but haven't actually seen it, have you?" He led the group inside, "Take a look around."

Li Qiutang acted as a guide, introducing the company overview to Wu Jing and others.

"This is the first film our company released, 'Limitless,' a low-budget film that sold very well back then and immediately became a hit."

"This is 'The Hunger Games.' There's a saying in our company: we live off 'The Hunger Games.'" 'The Hunger Games' is Lantern Entertainment's biggest and most valuable IP. In the early stages, they established themselves in Hollywood with this film, and later they made money by operating this IP.

Looking at the photos and posters on the display wall, Li Qiutang was filled with emotion; Lantern Entertainment had been around for ten years.

"It's getting harder and harder to make a living in Hollywood now. Everyone's playing with intellectual property. Independent studios like ours will be squeezed out by the big companies sooner or later."

"Look, it's called 'John Wick,' which is translated as 'Speed ​​Chase' in China, but I call it 'Give Me Back My Dog Life.' It's an IP we've developed in the last two years. We filmed the third movie last year, and it'll be released in a few months. It's not bad."

"There's not much else to mention, just some very low-budget horror movies, just filling up a movie library and making a meager living."

However, Li Qiutang's "it's nothing" sounded like a big deal to Wu Jing and the others.

I had heard that Director Li also had a company in Hollywood that was doing very well. But after actually visiting it, it was a completely different experience.

This is a film company listed on NASDAQ with a market value of nearly $40 billion. It is certainly not as big as the Big Six, but it is comparable to Lionsgate and Legendary, and is one of the largest independent studios in Hollywood.

Wu Jing and others told domestic media outlets that Li Qiutang was "the most powerful person in the entertainment industry," which was the first concrete example of this.

"Actually, I didn't do much. I really left everything in the US to professional managers. I didn't come to the company for a whole year last year, but thankfully nothing went wrong." Li Qiutang really didn't have time to take care of Lantern Entertainment anymore. "I used to sign some documents from time to time, but these past two years they haven't let me sign any documents at all, haha."

Wu Jing asked, "Aren't you worried they might do something underhanded?"

Li Qiutang retorted, "Can you defend against their underhanded tactics?"

Wu Jing was speechless.

"It's good to be able to accept this. Come on, I'll take you to see other places."

When they arrived in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Li Qiutang acted as a part-time host, treating them to dinner at Musso & Frank, a restaurant associated with Charlie Chaplin.

“I’m the director behind the scenes, so I’m not affected. But you’re in trouble.” When talking about the impact of “The Wandering Earth,” Li Qiutang first distanced herself from the situation and pushed Wu Jing aside. “Regardless of whether ‘The Wandering Earth’ breaks records or not, you’re still the top two in film history. Think about how you’re going to deal with the investors when you go back to China.”

Wu Jing completely gave up: "What's so miserable about me? I only have one head and two hands. How many movies can I make in a year? If investors can afford to wait, let them wait. I'm okay with any movies I can make."

However, on the other hand, special effects blockbusters like "The Wandering Earth" don't offer significant benefits to the actors.

"Wolf Warrior 2" was Wu Jing's personal showcase, so after "Wolf Warrior 2" became a hit, Wu Jing proved his market appeal and received a constant stream of film offers.

But The Wandering Earth is not a showcase for any actor.

Even for young actors like Zhao Jinmai and Qu Chuxiao, "The Wandering Earth" won't bring them much benefit. Aside from being able to write "starring in 'The Wandering Earth'" on their resumes, there's nothing else.

Even without "The Wandering Earth," Li Qiutang would still be one of China's best directors. Li Qiutang is well aware that the marginal effect of "The Wandering Earth" on him is so small that it is almost negligible.

Therefore, the greatest significance of "The Wandering Earth" lies in its existence; its great success proves that the industrialization of Chinese films is still ongoing.

"Shall we have a drink? Consider it an early celebration of The Wandering Earth breaking records."

"Are you so sure?"

"Oh, definitely!" Wu Jing himself thought that "The Wandering Earth" would break the record.

"Okay, come on, let's have a drink."

The wine glasses clinked together.

(End of this chapter)