Shadow of Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 319 Box Office Reaching the Top
In addition, their second commercial film, "Super Evolution," has already finished its theatrical run.

However, with a total global box office of $15.28 billion, it successfully topped the global box office charts.

In 2008, such box office results were not only explosive, but also earth-shattering.

Of course, the main reason is that An Xiaoxi is very charming, her popularity has swept the European and American film market, and she also has a top influence in the Asia-Pacific film market.

However, this box office advantage won't last long. When Avatar is released next year, the box office record will double.

(PS: The so-called global box office of $18.45 billion for Titanic is due to its multiple re-releases.)

In 1998, Titanic grossed $6.008 million in North America and over $10 billion worldwide at the time.

Subsequently, without large-scale re-releases, box office growth was relatively slow.
More importantly, "Super Evolution" is a female-led film, and if we don't count the director's contribution, An Xiaoxi almost single-handedly carried the global box office.

A billion dollars in box office revenue in this era is no joke; it's terrifying.

For example, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003 grossed $11.19 billion worldwide.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Box (2006) grossed $10.66 billion worldwide.

Released in the same year, "The Dark Knight" grossed $10.01 billion worldwide.

Every film that grosses over $10 billion worldwide is a classic that deserves a place in world film history.

It's worth noting that a few years later, the sci-fi action film "Lucy," also featuring a female lead, had a budget of $4000 million and grossed over $4.6 million worldwide, which was already considered extremely successful.

The movie "Super Evolution" combines elements of tomb raiding, action-adventure, science fiction, disaster, aliens, evolution, Eastern cultivation, and a strong female lead.

With Hu Xiaobei's top-notch directing skills, An Xiaoxi's performance, and Disney's strong support, this achievement is reasonable, but it is also quite remarkable.

Ultimately, no matter how excellent this movie is, if it didn't have the protection of companies like Disney, it would be incredibly lucky if it could achieve even half of its current global box office.

You have to give up something to gain something; if you don't give up some benefits, you won't get more benefits.

For example, investment shares, or Frozen.

Regardless of how many media outlets reported on "Super Evolution" after it topped the global box office, how excited the fans were, and how proud the Chinese people were.

Hu Xiaobei and An Xiaoqian, however, did not take it seriously and continued to train their bodies and abilities step by step.

If An Xiaoqian hadn't acquired her incarnation, she might have been overjoyed, occasionally giving interviews, showing her face, and asserting her presence with a touch of arrogance.

Having already mastered extraordinary abilities and with her body and mental strength constantly evolving, An Xiaoqian was no longer so interested in these things.

Well, mainly because she has won almost every major award, and the box office of the leading lady film she starred in has also topped the charts.

Such an achievement is truly unmatched on a global scale.

For a moment, she couldn't help but feel a little bored.

An Xiaoqian really likes being an actress.

However, when it comes to making movies or TV series in the future, it will depend more on whether she likes it or wants to do it; other factors are not so important.

For example, her next movie is a completely new version she's never done before, a type of film she's never made before, and she's very interested in it.

Of course, the main reason for my interest is because the movie is related to Hu Xiaobei.

Starting in late November 2008, Hu Xiaobei, under the pretext of making large donations, used Professor An's connections to gradually contact the persons in charge of relevant matters in the Navy, Army, and Air Force.

He ostensibly offered to fund the naming of military equipment such as fighter jets, large warships, and future aircraft carriers.

They even inquired whether the Varyag, currently undergoing refit, could be named "Sissi" or "Crystal," and expressed their willingness to fully cover the $30 billion refit cost and pay an additional $10 billion for naming rights. However, as important military equipment of China, their naming is governed by strict regulations and procedures, and it is absolutely impossible to obtain naming rights through personal funding.

Fortunately, Hu Xiaobei didn't really expect to achieve these goals through donations.

In reality, he was just looking for an excuse to donate some money, to show his stance, and to have some nominal protection.

He had already prepared contingency plans, although the naming rights deal fell through.

However, in the name of the Crystal Charity Foundation, it donated 1 billion RMB to each of the three armed forces to subsidize the wounded and retired soldiers.

They also pledged to establish a long-term subsidy program for disabled and veterans at the Crystal Charity Foundation, with a minimum annual investment of 300 million RMB.

Moreover, some of the companies invested in by Qianbeifeng will also provide some employment opportunities for disabled and veterans.

In this way, although the naming rights issue was not finalized, the two parties established a more long-term and stable relationship and cooperation.

In addition, following the successful launch of the Shenzhou VII manned spacecraft this year, Hu Xiaobei also consulted the China Space Station project and once again raised the issue of donating funds for naming rights.

However, the space station project has not yet been approved and has not yet started.

Even if the project is officially launched in China in 2011, it will be absolutely impossible for Hu Xiaobei to obtain naming rights.

In response, Hu Xiaobei generously donated 1 billion RMB to China's manned space program in one go to show his support.

Whether there will be further donations depends on the situation.

In early December 2008, Qianbeifeng Entertainment's new movie officially began filming.

At the end of December, Hu Xiaobei's shadow ability was upgraded to level five.

[Shadow Level 5]: 0.01%
Thanks to the additional five times the absorption and conversion bonus from Shadow Devourer, the absorption and evolution efficiency of its own shadow alone has reached 0.005%/hour.

In addition to his own shadow and the spot already given to An Xiaoqian for shadow transformation, Hu Xiaobei has four more shadow transformation spots.

At this moment, Hu Xiaobei used one of the Shadow Transformation slots to create his own shadow, accelerating the speed at which the shadow devoured and evolved.

In other words, as long as the two shadows simultaneously devour and evolve, Hu Xiaobei's evolution efficiency can reach the current level's limit of 0.01%/hour, 0.24%/day, 7.2%/month, and 87.6%/year in the first short time.

This also means that the shadow ability can be upgraded to level six in just 421 days.

If all goes well, the advancement date will likely be around February 25, 2010.

At this point, Hu Xiaobei's radius perception distance had reached 224-256 meters.

In less than 42 days, it will be able to reach the current level's limit radius of 256-288 meters.

One more spot has been added for the Shadow Transformation. Apart from An Xiaoqian's Shadow Transformation, there are now four available spots, bringing the total number of spots to five.

The shadow's realism and enhancement capabilities have reached 100%, and will reach the current level limit of 120% in less than forty-two days.

Hu Xiaobei's lifting strength has already reached over 3000 kilograms. With the additional five times the efficiency of Shadow Devouring, totaling six times the absorption and evolution efficiency, he can increase his strength by 200-300 kilograms every month.

Actually, this was only because Hu Xiaobei was restraining himself. If he wanted, he could even devour and transform all five shadows at the same time.

The reason I didn't do that was because my strength and physical fitness had increased too quickly.

It would be more reasonable and safer to keep the growth rate below 10% per month and slow down the evolution.

(End of this chapter)