I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 386 The film without Zhou Yang's name on it

Carl's powerful accusation caused a huge uproar in Hollywood, and the storm of public opinion in Europe and America continued to escalate. Countless reporters flocked to the scene, constantly questioning whether the delayed release of "Iron Man" in Europe and America was related to the cooperation with China. The gates of the eight major film studios were once surrounded by reporters. Many filmmakers voiced their support and strongly demanded that "Iron Man" be released in October.

However, film studios such as Paimon and Warner Bros. only issued a few bland statements, claiming to "respect market competition," while avoiding any mention of the copyright monopoly and exclusion of Marvel Comics.

Hollywood movies have always prioritized profit and are adept at controlling public opinion. With the major film studios working together behind the scenes, the heat of this incident gradually subsided after a few days.

However, four days later, Iron Man officially announced that it would premiere globally in early November.

As this news was announced, Carl's accusations gradually subsided.

Rumors circulated that the film and television rights to "Spider-Man" might return to Marvel Studios in 2007 through a collaborative arrangement, suggesting that the two parties had reached some kind of temporary reconciliation after the incident. However, this news has not yet been officially confirmed.

However, the censorship of the Chinese film market continued in October, and negotiations between the Chinese film department and other units and the film departments of overseas commercial departments gradually reached a stalemate.

The copyright dispute continues to escalate, with both sides citing classical texts and refusing to yield at the negotiating table.

Hollywood legal teams are stationed daily at [XuanShi Entertainment], sifting through various film materials to find evidence of infringement, while [XuanShi Entertainment]'s legal team cites international judicial precedents, emphasizing the ambiguity in the legal definition of "cultural borrowing" and "plagiarism."

After two weeks of a stalemate where neither side would back down, the battle turned into a protracted war that tested both sides' patience.

Meanwhile, the Chinese film market exhibited an eerie calm. Despite continuous media coverage of the negotiation process and countless people spending their days in the box office market, most industry insiders, with the exception of a few Hong Kong and Taiwanese filmmakers, avoided commenting with statements like "I don't know" or "I don't know."

More notably, Hollywood blockbusters such as "Digital Empire 3" and "Incredibles," originally scheduled for release in November, were collectively postponed due to "technical reasons." Without the competition and diversion caused by imported films, Zhou Yang's "Iron Man" has maintained a stable position in the top three at the box office with an average of 45% of screenings per day. After surpassing 400 million RMB, it is showing momentum to reach 500 million RMB at the box office.

This contest has gradually escalated from a simple legal dispute into a covert battle for cultural discourse power between the East and the West.

..............................

November.

As the weather grows colder, everything begins to feel desolate.

In some parts of Yanjing City, the odor has already dropped by 10 degrees Celsius...

Zhang Ying's belly gradually became more noticeable, and Liu Jiasheng accompanied her to the hospital for checkups several times. Although the doctor did not explicitly tell them the sex of the fetus, Liu Jiasheng roughly guessed from some verbal hints and details that it was a boy.

For Liu Jiasheng, it was nothing, but for his parents, it was driving them crazy with excitement...

He took good care of Zhang Ying almost every day, which caused Zhang Ying to gain a lot of weight.

11 month 2 day.

Liu Jiasheng stood by the window in the hospital corridor, gazing at the gray sky.

The recent calm in the film industry made him inexplicably uneasy...

There was no Zhou Yang trying to ride the wave of popularity, no accusations or condemnations from Hollywood, and even the media was unusually quiet, as if we had returned to around 2001, when Hong Kong films had just declined and Hollywood films were going wild but had not yet created a gap in the mainland market to strangle them...

The cinema alliance and the three major cinema chains are also scheduling screenings, but they are scheduling some lukewarm domestic films that barely break even at the box office but fail to make any splash in the market.

He recalled the sparse audience in the theater when he accompanied Zhang Ying to the movies last week, and the mediocre urban romance film on the screen, whose name he couldn't even remember.

And at this moment...

My phone vibrated slightly.

He looked down and saw a new message pop up on his screen.

"[Xuan Shi Entertainment] has just announced two new films coming in November and December: Deng Xingzu's 'Kung Fu Soccer' and Liang Xiaogang's 'If You Don't Love Me'!"

Just after I saw these two messages, my wife finished her prenatal checkup.

He hurriedly returned home with his wife, sat in his office, and began to silently look through the information and trailers for the two movies, but his expression gradually became complicated.

Deng Xingzu – the former king of comedy who once dominated Hong Kong Island – has returned to the scene after a seven-year hiatus.

However, since that movie flopped seven years ago, audiences seem to have lost interest in his nonsensical style.

When he saw the title "Shaolin Soccer" and the exaggerated "flying soccer" scenes in the promotional video, he couldn't help but sigh, feeling inevitably disappointed...

If Zhou Yang's various "abstract" films, such as those featuring flying basketball, hadn't been released earlier, perhaps this kind of subject matter could have brought some novelty.

But nowadays, it's clear that going down that old, flamboyant path won't work.

Moreover, the lackluster box office performance of the recent film "Hemorrhoid Hero" is already a clear signal...

And Liang Xiaogang...

This once highly sought-after director has fallen from grace since the box office failure of "The Last Supper".

Now, he's back with a romance film. Judging from the trailer, he seems to have brought his own Liang-style cinematic humor, but the problem remains the same: the romance genre has been thoroughly explored by Zhou Yang's directors, with every type available. The market is already experiencing aesthetic fatigue. Furthermore, the previous "celebrity-making" phase by several major Chinese film companies resulted in a string of mediocre films being released, completely exhausting the potential of the entire Chinese film market…

Especially now that the market is in a vacuum period with Hollywood blockbusters temporarily withdrawing, audiences are more inclined to wait for sequels to proven successes like "Iron Man," rather than risky attempts at comebacks by veteran directors who lack innovation...

……

"These movies all seem destined to fail?"

"It's hard to say, but it will most likely fail."

"I think so too. It's surprising that neither of these two films credits Zhou Yang as the screenwriter."

"..."

His wife pushed open the study door and saw Liu Jiasheng repeatedly watching the promotional video. The movie hadn't even been released yet, and he was already composing a film review.

After glancing at the information for the two movies again, Zhang Ying was slightly taken aback, then both surprised and shocked.

She frowned, especially when she saw the list of names in the staff list.

It's worth noting that in the past, every film produced by [Xuan Shi Entertainment], regardless of who the director was, would be credited as either "written by Zhou Yang" or starring Zhou Yang himself.

However, the two new films, "Kung Fu Soccer" and "Love Without Disturbance", are unusual: Zhou Yang was not involved in the screenwriting, nor can any elements of Zhou Yang be found. They are only invested and produced by [Xuan Shi Entertainment].

This is absolutely unprecedented in the past three years!
Everyone knows that with Zhou Yang's current influence, any product with his name on the label is guaranteed to be a box office hit.

But this situation seems to be sending some unusual signal?

What's even more intriguing is that these two films were not only produced by [Xuanshi Entertainment], but also by Liang Xiaogang and Deng Xingzu's personal studios.

Such actions are hard not to arouse suspicion!
Could it be that even [Xuan Shi Entertainment] itself lacks sufficient confidence in these two works?

"Let's watch the movie in the theater first..." "Okay."

"..."

..............................

11 month 2 day.

[XuanShi Entertainment] announced the news about these two movies.

The movies "Shaolin Soccer" and "Love Is Not Blind" are scheduled for release on November 15 and December 1, respectively.

The announcement sparked heated discussions within the industry.

Despite the decent pre-sale box office figures, the market is generally taking a wait-and-see approach to these two films.

The various actions and frequent releases of bad films by China's four major film companies during the "Domestic Film Protection Month" have completely numbed moviegoers to domestic films outside of Zhou Yang's group. The influence of those so-called great domestic directors has long been eroded in this wave of bad films.

What's even more intriguing is that Zhou Yang was not credited as the screenwriter or actor in either film; he only appeared as an investor in [Xuan Shi Entertainment].

This unusual action was interpreted by the market as a sign of the production company's lack of confidence.

A cinema manager privately revealed: "The pre-sales rely entirely on the brand name of [Xuan Shi] and the low-price strategy, but the subject matter of the film itself and the director's appeal are really mediocre."

Film critics lamented, "It's like Zhou Yang is testing the limits and bottom line of the market. If even his own brand can't carry these veteran directors, then Chinese cinema might really be in for a major upheaval."

On November 10th, the Chinese film market ushered in a historic moment.

Amidst the controversies surrounding "Shaolin Soccer" and "Love Is Not Blind," "Iron Man," distributed by [Xuan Shi Entertainment], broke the 5 million RMB box office mark with astonishing speed, becoming the first superhero film in Chinese film history to achieve this feat.

This news instantly went viral across the country, with media headlines covering this "comeback of the Chinese market".

5 million RMB!

This figure not only signifies that the potential of the Chinese film market has reached a new high, but also sets off a shocking frenzy in cinemas around the world!
In just ten days since its release, Iron Man has grossed over $2.05 million worldwide, including in China. Meanwhile, its daily box office in North America has become a dark horse, surpassing Spider-Man 2 in the same period!
The hashtag "#TheTinCannedFood'sRise" instantly dominated overseas social media platforms.
Everyone witnessed the birth of this incredible comeback in astonishment and couldn't help but exclaim in amazement!
And this box office record!
The biggest beneficiary, without a doubt, is Marvel Studios!
With the global success of "Iron Man," Marvel Studios' stock price surged 47% in a single day, gradually rising from its once awkward position as one of Hollywood's most precarious film studios.

During the interview, Carl choked up and said, "We have finally proven that Marvel can still create miracles without Spider-Man. We have survived again!" In his subsequent remarks, he repeatedly thanked fans around the world and especially emphasized the support of Chinese fans.

As people look back on the legendary journey and thrilling release of "Iron Man," Hollywood filmmakers are gradually realizing that...
This box office storm not only reshaped the market landscape of superhero movies, but also allowed the comic book empire, which had been fragmented by copyright issues, to truly rise from the ashes with the strong support of Zhou Yang and the Chinese market.

..............................

11 month 11 day.

Inside the Universal Pictures conference room, representatives from the seven major Hollywood studios sat solemnly around a long table.

The copyright negotiations with [Xuanshi Entertainment] have been deadlocked for nearly a month, with no sign of a breakthrough.

What silenced them even more was that the previously submissive China Film Group Corporation was now displaying an unprecedentedly tough stance, refusing to back down.

As a result, the release dates of many Hollywood blockbusters originally scheduled to be shown in China have been forced to be postponed, and the market outlook is bleak.

With a box office of 5 million RMB in China, the film market is already a force to be reckoned with. In the coming years, this market will only grow larger, and it may even surpass 10 billion RMB...

"Or, should we just forget about it?"

"How can we just let it go? If we get nothing this time, what about the future..."

"But the market..."

"We must persevere!"

"..."

At this moment, everyone in the conference room had mixed feelings.

They want the Chinese market, but they want to control it...

However, they also hope to remove Zhou Yang, this malignant tumor!

This has risen to the strategic level!

And at this moment...

“Karl from Marvel Studios called…”

"What does he mean?"

"Karl proposed new terms for cooperation. He demanded that we sign the Spider-Man series cooperation agreement with compensation terms higher than the original price, and that we sign it immediately. If we refused, he would immediately sign a joint development agreement with Zhou Yang for Iron Man 2 and Captain America, and fully authorize Zhou Yang to create derivative works and parodies of all his superhero IPs..."

Faced with this sudden threat, the Hollywood representatives in the conference room grew increasingly grim.

This comic book company, which they once marginalized, is now taking advantage of Zhou Yang's success in the Chinese market to make a killing!

Moreover, we tested their attitude step by step!

That Chinese filmmaker has now become a key bargaining chip in Hollywood's power structure.
They were caught in a dilemma.

Bow down?

No!

If this precedent is set, the market will see an increasing number of works that try to capitalize on the trend, and the entire market will become chaotic...

Should we fight to the bitter end?

No, no!
Despite repeated expressions of goodwill from the Chinese government regarding negotiations, the positions of both sides are clearly irreconcilable!
If a complete agreement is not reached, it is a foregone conclusion that their film will not be released or have a release date set...

Unless we completely abandon the Chinese market...

But who can easily give up such a tempting piece of cake?

After all, the profits in the Chinese market are right there in front of us!

[Various Comics Pictures] is currently brimming with enthusiasm, enjoying a honeymoon period with China Film Group. If they were to withdraw, wouldn't that create space for [Various Comics Pictures] to rise again? At that point, the entire market would be threatened once more...

They can accept it!

but!
But the capital behind them!

Those bloodthirsty capitalists can't just stand by and watch their competitors enter the market and take a slice of the pie!
(End of this chapter)