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

Chapter 749 Trash Movies, Trash Audiences (55)

Marvel movies…

The recent film "Song of the Phoenix" was squeezed into single digits of screenings because it ran into "Captain America 3"...

Although Fang Li of Laurel Films later knelt down to beg for more screenings, helping "Song of the Phoenix" salvage the situation.

The final box office for "Song of the Phoenix" was 8675 million...

Compared to the cost of less than 600 million, it's an absolute steal!
Then Wu Tianming's daughter, Wu Yanyan, said, "Marvel will definitely not become a classic; at best, it's just entertainment, and it won't remain in history like Schindler's List."

This has sparked huge controversy!
Most importantly, Wu Yanyan doesn't have many works...

She's an insider—the director of the Wu Tianming Youth Film Special Fund at the China Film Foundation!

The funding for this Chinese film foundation mainly comes from corporate donations.

For example, the first donation of the Wu Tianming Youth Film Special Fund was made by an American film company—Ivanhoe Films!

Through donations, Ivanhoe Films has participated in the production of many Chinese-language films, such as "The Looming Storm" and "I Am a Mountain"—yes, the one starring Hai Qing.

It doesn't matter, since it's just behind-the-scenes funding anyway.

The key statement that 'Marvel will not leave its mark on film history' has gone viral!
In fact, whether you like it or not, Marvel has already made its mark on film history: the "Star Wars" series, the "Star Trek" series, including the 007 series. Although there are many excellent predecessors, Marvel was the first to integrate a series of films and name it "Universe". Even if it is called "popcorn movies", it cannot hide this innovation.

Shen Yan continued, "Actually, Hollywood hasn't valued original content in recent years, and there haven't been many good works. That's why 'La La Land' achieved such huge success..."

Then…the conversation naturally turned to La La Land…

It was mostly praise…

Then... Liu Zhenyun talked about the spirit of craftsmanship!

That's on point!
However, Shen Yan wanted to laugh when he saw these four words—he now truly believed in this phrase.

I didn't believe it at all before; I thought it was a form of groveling...

Later, the man proved that the Japanese company's water pipes were indeed of military standard and could be used to make guns.

A false sense of craftsmanship: cooking rice for decades, frying skewers for decades, and making sushi for decades;

True craftsmanship: In a country with strict gun control, he handcrafted a double-barreled pistol using everyday items, hitting the target twice, proving the rumor that "Japanese steel pipes can indeed be used to make pistols" to be true...

Isn't this proof?

Chen Kexin spoke first: "I'm not a technically skilled director; I can only tell a good story and portray the characters well. So I constantly strive to stay young within the current market trends, connect with today's audience, and find what resonates with their values..."

Feng Xiaogang said, "I think craftsmanship is about being conscientious. It's understandable if you can't do something well, but it's unforgivable if you don't do something you know well. It's not that others can't forgive you, but that you can't forgive yourself!" Zhang Dachun said that when he was working with Wong Kar-wai on "The Grandmaster," Wong Kar-wai kept texting him about various possibilities for a particular scene. He saw "craftsmanship" in Wong Kar-wai. "The creator isn't a god, a boss, or a creditor; he's not the one issuing orders. He should work with all the other creators to learn from each other, repeatedly exploring all possible approaches. Isn't that the embodiment of craftsmanship?"

When it was Shen Yan's turn, he scratched his head and said, "For me, movies are my hobby, and I'm willing to try them. After science fiction, I also want to try disaster movies and fantasy movies... I've always felt that 'The Legend of Shushan Swordsmen' is very suitable for a trilogy... After I finish my current work, I will dedicate a year to polishing the script and then start filming!"

"The Legend of the Swordsmen of Shushan?"

"Yes, about Huanzhu Louzhu... I meant the premise was interesting... not that the novel itself was interesting! That novel was very disorganized..."

……

Several directors sat together and naturally started talking about the recent film market…

Peter Chan spoke first: "I've seen 'Ex Machina,' it's very good, especially the special effects!"

"...Thank you, Director Chen... The special effects in 'Ex Machina' aren't the absolute best; they're about the same level as 'Moon'... The main purpose of these two projects is to generate revenue for the Xiangshan Sci-Fi Base... We can't just leave it empty!"

Feng Xiaogang asked curiously, "What is 'Ex Machina'?"

"It tells the story of an AI robot awakening..." Shen Yan explained, "It stars Dilraba Dilmurat and has done well at the box office... It's already over 9 million!"

"I'll definitely go check it out after the event is over!"

What are your thoughts on the proliferation of bad movies?

Well, the problem of domestic films being critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful, while terrible films sell well, and the box office and word-of-mouth often not being proportional, has been a long-standing source of criticism.

Feng Xiaogang bluntly stated: "The prevalence of bad domestic films is related to a large number of low-quality viewers. If viewers don't support these films, bad films will have no room to survive, and producers will stop making bad movies."

Shen Yan shook his head directly: "After all, movies aren't made by the audience. The audience can't decide what movies are shown in theaters, nor can they decide which movies have more screenings... Sometimes, the audience wants to see a movie with good reviews, but finds that it has very few screenings and they can't find a suitable time to watch it. What should they do in this situation?"

"Actually, high-quality works of art are rare worldwide. Millions of books are published every year, and truly excellent works are always precious. The same is true for movies, and Hollywood is no exception. For example, the script for 'A Man Called Ove' was a high-quality project. My first choice was Tom Hanks. If he wasn't so strict, I would have approached Anthony Hopkins or Robert De Niro... After I sent the script to Tom Hanks, he came directly to me and helped me get in touch with 20th Century Fox..."

"The proliferation of bad domestic films in recent years is precisely because investors and producers pander to the audience without any bottom line."

They were so eager to cater to the audience's demands that they misjudged the audience's preferences.

Once a certain type of film achieves high box office success, a large number of similar films will follow suit.

Once a star demonstrates strong box office appeal, they become a hot commodity in the film industry, and nobody cares whether they have acting skills or not… Audiences' aesthetic standards are rising, especially among fans of young, handsome actors. Don't criticize them, and don't blame them… We filmmakers, especially Chinese filmmakers, are very fortunate because we have the world's second-largest market…

Dai Jinhua strongly agreed with Shen Yan's point of view: "I think Shen Yan is right. Audiences' aesthetic tastes are improving. Moreover, too many cinema chains have the power to control the narrative. This high degree of monopoly has resulted in very limited choices for the audience. They are passive and helpless."

(End of this chapter)