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

Chapter 744 The Theory of Turning Points

Actually, the Shanghai International Film Festival has been quite successful in recent years. After all, it's an A-list film festival, so its prestige is unquestionable. Every year, it invites international masters of art films to its jury, and it can even screen films from the three major European film festivals of the year. Not to mention the screenings of classic films and horror B-movies, which are often produced due to the unique circumstances in China…

However, the main competition segment was indeed quite disappointing!

There's nothing we can do about it; good films all go to the three major European film festivals, and the quality of the main competition at the Tokyo International Film Festival isn't that great either, so we shouldn't be too demanding in this regard.

It's worth mentioning that the interviews also included a forum segment…

The Shanghai International Film Festival's annual summit forum always generates buzz and attracts a lot of attention!

Shen Yan has been one of the key figures generating buzz at the Shanghai International Film Festival in recent years…

Especially after "Ip Man 3," his previous statement at the Shanghai International Film Festival, "Internet + Film + Finance = Fraud!" was dug up and hyped up again...

A lot of people praised him for his foresight!
Including his dismissive attitude towards big data…

Okay, the most important thing is that he's an Oscar-winning director, and he owns Spark Studios...

—To date, regardless of critical reception, all the films that Spark Studio has worked on have been box office hits.

Of course, there's also A24…

In the North American market, "A Man Called Ove" was released in May, starring Tom Hanks, with Kara Hui and director Chen Daoming in supporting roles!
In an interview, Kara Hui stated clearly, "This script was given to me by Shen Yan last year when I was filming 'Zhou Chu Eliminates the Three Evils'..."

Director Chen also said, "Shen Yan approached me for this script. I read it, and the character is quite substantial and very interesting..."

That's right, it was arranged by Shen Yan.

Moreover, "Ove" did well at the box office, grossing nearly $1.4 million in North America—and it was a summer blockbuster!
The global box office is currently $320 million – it hasn't been released in mainland China or Japan yet, but it's estimated to be released in July.

Many in the industry are amazed by Shen Yan's influence...

He actually managed to lead Tom Hanks' projects!
Tom Hanks!

One of the greatest actors still alive today, he has, in some ways, become a symbol of American culture.

It's worth noting that Huang Shengyi was still generating buzz last year about walking the red carpet with Tom Hanks...

However, Tom Hanks' salary is indeed quite high - $1500 million + 10% of the profits!
By the way, Tom Hanks has always been expensive—for films like The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, and the Inferno trilogy, Sony offered him a fixed salary of $5000 million for the last one, Inferno!

Shen Yan actually reached a cooperation agreement with him!

……

“Right now, the whole world is experiencing a script shortage, especially for original, high-quality scripts… So we first approached Ron Howard, who was very interested in the script, and then we approached Tom Hanks… They are a golden duo!”

Ron Howard has collaborated with Tom Hanks multiple times, including on films such as *The Modern Mermaid*, *Apollo 13*, *The Da Vinci Code*, *Angels & Demons*, and *Inferno*.

"I didn't make any special plans. I invest in good projects, but I'm still very cautious. I've basically never done a project that exceeds $3000 million!"

After arriving in Shanghai, Shen Yan gave an exclusive interview to Maoyan, where he discussed the box office performance of "Ove"...

"We didn't have a major investment in 'Ove'; it was a project primarily controlled by 20th Century Fox. We were just one of the producers... After all, with a budget of $70 million, the risk was still quite high!"

"...Yes, Split sold very well, but The Lobster and Lady Bird didn't sell very well, at most breaking even. We sold them to streaming platforms later to make a little money!"

"In the United States, mainstream commercial blockbusters have large budgets but earn more money, while independent films usually face significant risks!"

“A24 has always emphasized auteurism…and A24 has shifted more of its distribution and promotion channels to internet platforms…” “Nowadays, for small and medium-sized independent film companies to establish themselves in Hollywood, simply having ‘good films’ is far from enough…you need to have your own uniqueness!”

"This year, of course, there are also award-contending films, such as *Manchester by the Sea*, *Moonlight*, *Call Me by Your Name*, *Room*, and *A Man Called Ove*..."

"Manchester by the Sea, Moonlight, and Call Me by Your Name have all been confirmed for the main competition at the Venice Film Festival!"

After a pause, Shen Yan added, "Chinese-language film... 'Hello, Crazy' is also confirmed to be nominated!"

Well, to be honest, "Hello, Crazy" is really not that good in terms of quality!
The reason I was shortlisted for the main competition was purely because of Shen Yan's connections...

Because of Shen Yan, Venice's popularity in China has soared, attracting a host of brands to sponsor it...

It's a win-win situation!

However, Feng Xiaogang was a little unhappy—"I Am Not Madame Bovary" was not selected by the Venice Film Festival, so he had to settle for the San Sebastián International Film Festival in Spain...

The San Sebastián International Film Festival is certainly not a frivolous award; it is, after all, an A-list international film festival!

But... putting everything else aside, public awareness is far lower!

Even renowned directors from Siberia wouldn't consider San Sebastián for their projects...

Their first choice is usually one of the top three in Europe!
Pedro Almodóvar, Carlos Saura, and Jafar Panahi are all basically players in the top three European clubs.

The reason is simple: the Spanish film market is too small and not very eye-catching!

At this point, a reporter from Maoyan asked, "What do you think this summer's movie season will be like?"

"This summer's box office...I reckon there will be a downturn!"

"Huh? A slump? You mean a slump in box office revenue?"

"right…"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because a large number of films guided by big data have begun to be released on a large scale, they have underestimated the evolution of audience tastes..."

……

The original timeline, 2016, was hailed as a turning point for Chinese cinema…

Of course, a bunch of big shots are saying 'absolutely impossible'!
Then, from the summer season to July of the following year, no Chinese-language film grossed more than 15 billion yuan.

It would be difficult to even reach 500 million!
Conversely, Hollywood movies are thriving: *The Fate of the Furious* grossed over 26 billion yuan; *xXx: Return of Xander Cage*, a terrible film, grossed over 1 billion yuan; *Resident Evil: The Final Chapter* and *Kong: Skull Island* grossed over 11 billion yuan…

Then... Wolf Warrior 2 was released out of nowhere and raked in 56 billion yuan at the box office!
This time... the script for "Wolf Warrior 2" has been completed, but Wu Jing is still busy with "The Big Shot 3". Even if "Wolf Warrior 2" is filmed, it will probably be at the end of the year!

Let's get back to this year's summer movie season...

Spark Studios only made three films: *Ex Machina*, *Moon*, and *Zhou Chu Eliminates the Three Evils*...

The first two films are unlikely to be blockbusters, and the last one, "Zhou Chu," is unlikely to gross more than 20 billion yuan!
Compared to last year's summer blockbuster season, films like "Jurassic World," "Monkey King: Hero Is Back," "Monster Hunt," "Jian Bing Man," and "Your Wedding," released in August, all grossed over 1 billion yuan. "Your Wedding" ultimately grossed 9.76 million yuan, failing to reach 1 billion, but it still barely counts!

This summer's box office... In the original timeline, only one film, "Warcraft," grossed over 10 billion!
The Grave Robbers' Chronicles seems to have grossed 10.02 billion...

Then came all sorts of news about guaranteed IPOs not meeting expectations!
(End of this chapter)