Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 668: The Religious Film "2012"! Scarlett Johansson Surprises Ma Xun!
"2012" was released and grossed over 75 million yuan on its opening day.

This is indeed a very impressive result, especially considering that this was in November, which is not a very good time to release a film.

To be precise, November is usually a relatively slow month, and under normal circumstances, this period is mainly used for two purposes, especially in the North American market.

One reason is the continuation of the Halloween season in October, which means that some horror films that are not expected to do well will be released during this period.

Another point is that most films aiming for the Oscars are released during this period.

In Hollywood, there's a set strategy for winning an Oscar. Every year, the Oscars send out brochures to various production companies, which contain very detailed 'emphasis'.

Simply put, it's like when a final exam is approaching, the teacher will highlight the key points for everyone. Oscars, on the other hand, will highlight the key points in advance. For example, they will write down which races should appear more often in the film, such as yellow skin, black skin, and so on.

If a certain race appears more often, the probability of winning the award is higher.

They really wrote all of this down clearly for you. Although there's a voting process later, the work has already been done in advance.

That said, November is close to the Oscar voting period, and December is the Christmas season, with many Christmas-themed movies being released.

Therefore, November is a good time to release films that want to compete for the Oscars but are not very confident about their box office performance.

But right now, it's clear that "2012" isn't just aiming for the Oscars!
That's right, Roland Emmerich is definitely an ambitious guy who wants both!

He definitely wants both an Oscar and box office success.

The marketing for this movie was so successful that the rumor of the world ending in 2012 had actually been circulating for a year or two.

Emmerich definitely wants to win both awards and box office success; that's absolutely certain!
Moreover, we can pay attention to some details: the movie "2012" is actually trying its best to cater to mainstream American ideas!

Isn't it obvious?
The US president in the movie is Black!

That's right, that alone makes it very clear.

Although the current US president is indeed black, it's worth noting that Obama wasn't very well-known before he was elected.

That's right, he wasn't always an American political star.

When did the movie "2012" start production?
Even if we take a step back, it can all be traced back to 2005, right?

At that time, "The Day After Tomorrow" was released. In fact, once a movie has been released, it can be declared that the director's work on this movie is complete, and the director can start working on the next one.

We can be certain that the movie "2012" did not include a black president in its early stages.

What we are seeing now is a president who reflects reality.

Therefore, director Emmerich is definitely pandering to the American mainstream.

So...can he succeed?

Ma Xun doesn't care about these things now; there are several young people in his office.

Well, to be precise, they're not exactly young.

Gong Geer, Lao Hu, and Guo Fan.

"Have you seen this movie? What did you think of it?"

Ma Xun's question was very direct, but it sounded like a teacher assigning homework to students after watching a movie.

My thoughts after watching it? Is this all Ma Xun wanted?

All three of them frowned slightly, realizing in an instant that this problem was definitely not simple.

You absolutely cannot write movie reviews like you did when you were a kid!
So how should we answer?

I must say Lao Hu is pretty good; he's practically made movie-related videos all by himself now.

That "A Bloodbath Caused by a Steamed Bun" would indeed be enough for him to live on for a lifetime.

"I don't think this movie has much of a science fiction element."

This is a very good starting point.

2012 is indeed a disaster movie, but it also contains a lot of science fiction elements, such as the large ships built later.

Moreover, and most importantly, the director of this film has a persona!
Emmerich is considered by many film fans to be a great director of science fiction films.

The movie he made before, "Independence Day," and later, "The Day After Tomorrow."

Although these films all contain disaster elements, such as the Earth being destroyed, they also have a lot of science fiction elements.

It's fair to say that when people see his name, they immediately think of science fiction, not anything else!
Character design; directors also consider character design.

Just like when we hear James Cameron, we think of science fiction movies, or even robots.

So, when I knew that the movie "2012" was directed by Emmerich, even if I knew it was a disaster movie, I would still think it was a science fiction movie.

But with science fiction films, there's a unique kind of expectation!

Simply put, expectations are higher; we movie fans want to see some more novel sci-fi ideas.

It's like when I watched "Independence Day" before, wow, so we can defeat aliens by injecting a virus into their spaceships, making their spaceship crash into Earth, and then we win, hahaha...

As we grow older, and with the rapid pace of technological advancement, we'll probably be able to confirm... Screw you! Alien systems can detect computer viruses on Earth?
What? Aliens have such advanced technology, yet they still use DOS?
Right? I'm sure many people have gone through the same emotional journey.

But if we think back to 1996, we did feel that movies like "Independence Day" were very innovative.

That's definitely a great idea.

And then there's "The Day After Tomorrow," which shows that most people don't really know what extreme cold is like.

Just like later online post-apocalyptic novels, some depict temperatures as low as -30 degrees Celsius, making it the coldest place on Earth.

Goodness gracious! It turns out that we Northeasterners have a world-destroying experience every year!

In addition, we need to stockpile supplies to combat the extreme cold. Speaking of which, we need to stockpile 100 jin of Chinese cabbage!

It's obvious that the author not only never hoarded cabbages, but also never went to buy vegetables.

In Northeast China, people stock up on vegetables, starting with 1,000 jin (500 kg) of Chinese cabbage. If there are many people in the family, they might stock up on 3,000 to 5,000 jin (1,500-2,500 kg).

Moreover, 100 jin of Chinese cabbage contains approximately 8 to 10 heads.

In other words, if you eat half a piece a day, it will be gone in half a month. You might as well not stock up on vegetables at all.

Some people will definitely question this, saying, "Wait a minute, didn't you say that 8 heads are roughly equivalent to 100 kilograms of cabbage?"

That cabbage weighs eleven or twelve pounds, how can you eat only half a cabbage a day?

When you buy cabbage in bulk, they won't remove the outer leaves for you. Once you get home, remove the outer leaves before stewing or stir-frying. Half a head is enough for one pot of stew, and you don't need to add water because cabbage has a high water content.

When you're stocking up on groceries, your husband absolutely mustn't go, or he'll be crying.

These are all life experiences.

Okay, enough of that. Let's get to the key to this sci-fi film... its originality!
So, what about the corresponding one?
Ma Xun smiled and said, "This movie starts with a Mayan prophecy and ends with Noah's Ark... Don't you understand?"

This is a very clear reminder.

However, although the three of them had thought of it, they exchanged glances with each other.

uncertain!
Fortunately, Guo Fan was the first to speak out, exclaiming, "This is actually a religious film?!"

Upon hearing this, both Lao Hu and Gong Ge'er were extremely surprised. They had also thought of this answer, but hadn't dared to say it.

Because, based on Emmerich's character and previous works, the world destruction in "2012" has a theoretical basis.

How can you call a Hollywood blockbuster a religious film?

Ma Xun nodded and smiled at this.

"Okay, next..."

As soon as he said that, Lao Hu and Gong Geer immediately said, "We know what to do."

Yes, of course I know what to do.

As a result, not long after, some comments that differed from the prevailing public opinion appeared on the internet.

Currently, many people are praising "2012" to the extreme.

But now, this kind of film review has emerged!
"2012 is a religious film disguised as science fiction!"

"Emmerich is not the same Emmerich anymore!"

"At first I thought it was science fiction, but in the end it was just the typical Hollywood trope of an underdog saving the world. The worst part is, it wasn't until the very end that it was revealed to be a religious story! Disgusting..."

It must be said that although it differs from the mainstream opinion, the evaluation is still very accurate.

That's exactly how it is.

This "2012" movie is a total scam! It fooled everyone and then gave you a Noah's Ark story in the end.

The key point is that there is a huge contrast here!

What is religion associated with in the minds of Chinese people?
Old, outdated... right? That's probably what we all think.

So, what about science fiction? Or science itself?

新！
That's right, this is us Chinese!
We are a nation that truly believes in science!

We are really different from other countries in the world, especially in Europe and America!
They really believe in religion, they really believe in what was said in "2012"!
So, there weren't many of these 'film reviews' at first, but soon, like a spark, they spread like wildfire across our internet!
The box office performance of the movie "2012" also began to decline.

Meanwhile, our next big film will also be released to movie fans.

This is Inception!
……

"At least 60% of the screenings."

"Mr. Ma, you've ordered quite a lot."

"We can make a bet."

"Want to gamble again?"

"What? Mr. Lu, don't you want to accept?"

"Of course not, but I know it in my heart."

"What's clear?"

"What I know for sure is that your Inception is even better than 2012!"

Goodness, listen to that.

Who would dare say that? Judging from the current situation, "2012" made 300 million in just two weeks in China.

This is clearly a powerful Hollywood blockbuster.

However, Mr. Lu dared to say that.

Of course, Ma Xun specifically invited Mr. Lu for drinks and a chat, which was to discuss Wanda's original scheduling issues.

Could it be that Ma Xun hadn't even started negotiating back at Quanjude?
Oh, he's talking slowly and methodically, right? ...Ahem, let's not worry about the details.

This guy completely fooled those guys.

But it's not too late to talk about it now.

With the upcoming release of "Inception," Wanda Cinemas is currently the fastest-growing cinema chain.

If we can secure the support of this theater chain, everything else will be easier to negotiate.

Mr. Lu seems easy to talk to now, but Ma Xun knows very well that he must offer more favorable terms.

“Mr. Lu, Emmerich made a lot of noise, but he ultimately didn’t come to China.”

“That’s right, I know that… Oh, I get it! Mr. Ma, you’re very sincere, both directors of Inception have come to China! Haha…”

That's right, this is indeed a very sincere gesture.

Those internationally renowned directors, they really do... have that sense of superiority that looks down on Chinese films deep down.

Take Emmerich for example, hehe... Years later, he realized he had no market, so he came to China.

They kept trying to show their so-called sincerity.

Hey you out-of-towner, what are you pretending for?

Too late! We movie fans saw right through you.

Those films they make, using our actors, aren't they actually just trying to make money off us?

Are they treating us like韭菜 (a metaphor for being exploited) to be harvested?
Pooh!
Okay, it's best if we don't say these things face to face; let's discuss them online.

So, Ma Xun now needs to...

"It's not just the director coming; I'll also arrange for the main cast and crew to come! That's right, Leonardo DiCaprio, Scarlett Johansson, and many others will all come to China and meet with fans!"

What is sincerity?

That's what you call sincerity!
The event was actually stipulated in the contract, so as long as it's arranged properly, such as being two days apart from the promotional activities in North America, it's fine.

Those so-called big Hollywood stars who don't come to China for promotions are simply lacking sincerity.

Later on, they came quite often.

Unfortunately, as I said before... you're too late!
And now is the time!
Mr. Lu naturally had no objection to the conditions offered by Ma Xun.

"Great! We at Wanda absolutely support it! On the opening day, we'll give it over 75% of the screenings!"

That's really bold!

It even feels like it's getting fired up!
Ma Xun was naturally very happy after the conversation, but when he returned to Guangyuan...

As he entered the elevator, a woman, seemingly unaware of his presence, also stepped inside.

After all, Ma Xun is the boss, and he's the only one allowed in the elevator; that's the rule.

But now...

"Did you miss me?"

This person is Scarlett Johansson!
(End of this chapter)