Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 474 Folklore Cinematic Universe? (23)

"As you all probably know, there's a saying in the Japanese music scene about the 'Four Great Divas of the Heisei Era'..."

At the Workers' Stadium, Shen Yan sang 13 songs in a row, then went to the dressing room to change clothes and invite a guest singer to perform.

This is how he introduced her: "If we set aside the Chinese music scene, who else can be called the 'Imperial Diva'?"

"...Let's give Tan Jing a round of applause!"

Tan Jing was a guest performer; she sang "Red-Clad Lament"...

She's very skilled!

Currently, singers within the system are still widely recognized, including by public opinion…

The reason is simple: on the one hand, they are powerful, and on the other hand... because they don't follow the market route within the system, they have no popularity in the market, so no one criticizes them.

Once you enter the market, you have to compete with others…

Then the scandal started!
Oh, the first show of the tour was a great success, the theater was packed, and Shen Yan really put in a lot of effort…

It will be made into a DVD and sold later.

This is a business transaction...

By the way, the best-selling concert DVD in the Chinese music scene is Andy Lau's 1999 Hong Kong Coliseum concert.

Selling 300 million copies is a legend; that's how the term "Andy Lau concert" came about.

However, at this stage, very few fans are buying DVDs.

The best-selling concert DVD last year was probably Zhou Bichang's "Singing to Travel" national tour concert in Beijing, which sold less than 4 copies!

Shen Yan prepared 30,000 tickets...

……

On the 21st, Shen Yan finished his Beijing Station tour and prepared to go to Tianjin…

Before leaving, I met with Cui Zou Zhao, Rao Xiaozhi, and Ji Xiang.

I'm going to talk about the folklore film universe.

Shen Yan's understanding of a cinematic universe is that all the stories follow the same worldview and take place in the same virtual world...

Those folk tales and supernatural legends could all take place within the same grand context!
The problem is the lack of key events.

Therefore, this folklore cinematic universe is actually a film series!
The reason it's called a cinematic universe is mainly to make it easier to attract investment and partners.

"After all, the concept of a cinematic universe is very popular right now!"

Ji Xiang scratched his head, and although he was very interested, he still asked, "Is it reliable?"

Shen Yan glanced at Cui Zou Zhao: "The second part could have a subtitle under 'Northeast Folk Tales'... What should the second part be about?"

"The Demon-Slaying White Fish Town..."

"Let's not call it that anymore, let's change it to 'Northeast Folk Tales: White Fish Town'..."

Cui Zou Zhao scratched his head: "We lack an organization like the Avengers... so we can't connect the stories..."

Shen Yan waved his hand: "You know Wen Ziren, right?"

"The director of Saw?"

“Yes, he teamed up with New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. to create the Conjuring Cinematic Universe!” Shen Yan added, “Actually, it was because the Conjuring movie became a hit, and then they expanded it into a series…”

James Wan, the director of "The Conjuring," created a global box office phenomenon of $3.19 million with a budget of less than $2000 million, and laid the foundation for the "Conjuring Universe."

The so-called unifying thread of the cinematic universe is actually the items displayed in the basement of the male and female protagonists' basement. You could say this display room is the MacGuffin of the Conjuring universe, with each item containing a story. This led to the creation of sequels to *Annabelle*, *Annabelle 2*, *The Nun*, and *The Conjuring*…

They produced a series of horror films.

Even the most expensive film, The Conjuring 3, only cost $40 million, but grossed over $200 million worldwide.

The highest-grossing film is "The Nun," which cost $2200 million to make and sold $3.66 million worldwide!
And then... they were mostly bad movies!
Of all the horror films advertised with James Wan's involvement, one is a complete flop...

The movie "The Nun" was purely riding the wave of popularity. The initial appearance of her emerging from the shadows created a great atmosphere, and the combination of a holy nun and a demon was a blasphemous image. The final jump scar that rushed in front of the female lead was also very oppressive, which scared many viewers that year.

Distributors and producers saw the potential of this character IP in this scene…

After the success of Annabelle, they immediately created The Nun...

But their publicity campaign was incredibly strong!
Even today, you can still see it on some video websites; it's the same old Western propaganda style, with a ghost nun dressed up to scare passersby...

But people still really liked it. That year, Halloween in the United States was basically full of people dressed as ghost nuns, which made the IP a huge hit!
The movie itself is just so-so!
The weak story relies entirely on the noise of jump scares to keep the audience from falling asleep; the horror elements are practically nonexistent, and the scare factor is negative.

The priest and nun in the film subdue the demons with simple prayers like "God bless me," "God help me," and "God come quickly." Uncle Nine, on the other hand, has many more methods—paper, pen, ink, sword, hand gestures, eye movements, body movements, and footwork. Not only are there a variety of techniques to choose from, but they are also so realistic that they can be mistaken for realism. His kung fu is also incomparable!

But this IP address succeeded…

"Once the concept of a cinematic universe is successful, we can incorporate all our subsequent folklore films into it..."

Ji Xiang nodded, then shook his head: "...But I'm worried about the censorship..."

"This is all up to Teacher Cui... You'll be in charge of reviewing the script. Make sure there's no ghosts or monsters... and the core message should guide people towards good!"

Cui Zou Zhao shook his head: "I can't do it!"

"Let's make three parts first to test the waters... If the response is good, we'll continue, just like we did with 'Northeast Folk Tales'..."

"...Then I'll give it a try..."

……

Shen Yan has no plans to disclose the 'Folklore Film Universe'...

According to his usual practice, he would not mention this until at least after "White Fish Town" was released!
then…

Ji Xiang mentioned the concept of 'folk film universe' in an interview.

Then the reporter went to Cui Zou Zhao to confirm, and he admitted it:
The original words were: "There are so many folk tales in Northeast China. We have the saying of the Five Great Immortals, and the Twelve Immortals of Shamanism... These things are very interesting. Our current project, 'Northeast Folk Tales,' is actually just the beginning. We will continue to make more... In accordance with Brother Yan's idea, we are building a folk tale cinematic universe..."

"Based on ghost stories and supernatural tales, and combined with modern film production techniques and narrative methods, a series of film works will be constructed..."

This universe typically consists of multiple independent films designed to explore and showcase China's rich folk culture and supernatural phenomena, while delving into themes such as human nature and karma.

"The second installment of 'White Fish Town,' along with subsequent films such as 'The Fox Wife,' 'The Paper Doll Returns,' and 'The Night Watchman's Ghost Story,' will be produced and released in succession!"

And then…

The concept of a folk cinema universe is all the rage!
Like big data, this thing is a powerful tool for boosting stock prices and attracting investment.

Not only did netizens discuss it enthusiastically, but a bunch of film and television companies also jumped on the bandwagon.

As a result, "Northeast Folk Tales" saw a box office rebound in its second week of release...

The film grossed over 1.7 million yuan in its first week and accumulated 2.6 million yuan in box office revenue after ten days of release.

Theaters and industry insiders have also adjusted their final box office forecasts for "Northeast Folk Tales," raising it from 2.5 million yuan to 4.5 million yuan...

However, on May 28th, "Star Trek Into Darkness" was released... its opening day box office reached 2307 million yuan, snatching the top spot from "Northeast Folk Tales"...

(End of this chapter)