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

Chapter 391 Epilogue (Part Two)

12 month 4 day.

It's freezing cold.

Countless filmmakers silently entered the screening room and watched "If You Are the One".

In recent years, as Liang Xiaogang's films have flopped one after another, more and more people have shattered their halo effect on this "famous director".

The premiere of "If You Are the One" was also quite ordinary; there was no premiere ceremony, and no industry bigwigs were invited to promote or support the film.

In the cold wind, this film seemed more like an ordinary movie released by Liang Xiaogang...

but!

After the premiere of "If You Are the One," Liang Xiaogang's comeback film surprised many people and even sparked an unexpected craze in the cold December winds.

After watching this film, many film critics gradually realized that this director, who was keen to make a splash on the international film scene, had completely abandoned the big-budget style after experiencing a slump and had begun to tell stories seriously.

The film continues the urban romance style that Leung's comedies have always been known for, cleverly blending the anxieties of modern urban men and women about marriage and love with humorous banter.

This film cleverly blends Liang Xiaogang's sharp social observations from his early works with the signature humor of [Xuan Shi Entertainment], telling an urban emotional story through delicate narration.

Surprisingly, despite the strong competition from Hollywood blockbusters such as RoboCop and John Carter, "Love Is Not Blind" not only grossed over 1.2 million yuan in its opening weekend, but also maintained an occupancy rate of over 50% on weekdays.

The film's realistic yet absurd blind date scenes have made audiences laugh, and the topic of "Liang's humorous renaissance" continues to gain momentum on social media.

Film critics praised the film for "using everyday humor to directly address the pain points of our time," and [Xuan Shi Entertainment] has once again proven to the market that renowned directors are fully capable of creating high-quality films; as long as they focus on telling a story, a good movie can be made...

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

The battle for box office revenue in December is still raging...

Despite the impact of Hollywood blockbusters, Deng Xingzu's "Shaolin Soccer" remained resilient, and ultimately, amidst great anticipation, its box office surpassed 4 million yuan, before gradually slowing down...

The end of April.

Standing in the cold wind at the end of the year, Liu Jiasheng looked at the celebratory poster outside the cinema that "Shaolin Soccer" had surpassed 4.2 million yuan, and in a daze, he felt that the footsteps of the new era were getting closer and closer.

He lowered his head and received a phone call.

The calls were from some friends in the film industry.

During the phone call, he learned that Liang Xiaogang's dating comedy had officially broken the 3.2 million yuan box office mark. Some cinemas even forced "John Carter" to temporarily add IMAX screenings to save the market and maintain the last vestige of dignity for Hollywood films...

At this moment, the numbers jumping on the data screen are like an absurd drama.

This gave him a sense of exhilaration, as if he could hear the clarion call for the rise of Chinese cinema.

Hollywood blockbusters that once dominated the screen are now struggling in the shadow of box office figures of 2.8 million and 2.5 million.

He glanced down at his wife's pregnancy test report...

At this moment, I suddenly couldn't help but recall the pessimistic predictions made by the media three years ago when "The Monkey King vs. Superman 2" premiered: "If someone like Zhou Yang can become a director, Chinese films will inevitably repeat the mistakes of Hong Kong films."

He suddenly laughed.

Would these two movies still exist without Zhou Yang's [Xuan Shi Entertainment]?

Perhaps there will be, but it's highly unlikely that investments will come so quickly, and they probably won't emerge so soon either.

Who knows...

……

The chill of December gradually dissipated, and the calendar turned to January 2007. Liu Jiasheng's life remained as calm as still water; besides accompanying his wife to prenatal checkups, he spent his days keeping up with the latest developments in the film industry.

He habitually browsed the box office data of "Movie House," watching as "Shaolin Soccer" and "Love Is Not Blind" ultimately finished their runs with box office earnings of 4.5 million and 3.8 million respectively...

With countless witnesses, these two films unexpectedly became a symbol of the successful transformation of [Xuan Shi Entertainment], and also allowed the market to see the true potential of Chinese directors.

Following the box office success of "Shaolin Soccer" and "Love Is Not Blind," directors Liang Xiaogang and Deng Xingzu announced that they had accepted investment from [Xuanshi Entertainment] and officially established their own film production companies. Under intense industry scrutiny, the two parties signed a ten-year strategic cooperation agreement. The contract clearly stipulates that all of the two directors' films for the next ten years will be exclusively produced by [Xuanshi Entertainment], with priority given to using actors and special effects teams under [Xuanshi Entertainment].

This major collaboration has caused a strong stir in the Chinese film industry.

Subsequently, more mainland directors announced that they had joined the creative system of [XuanShi Entertainment].

Thus, a new landscape for the film industry centered on [Xuanshi Entertainment] has clearly emerged, marking the official entry of Chinese cinema into a new era.

However, undercurrents are swirling in the Chinese film market, and the industry landscape is subtly being reshaped...

Faced with the rapid rise of Xuan Shi Entertainment, traditional giants like Tianyu Media and Huasheng Brothers refused to be outdone, launching director support programs and film investment subsidy projects in an attempt to regain their eroded market share. Meanwhile, under the combined influence of capital operations and market forces, the other three major film and television companies were successively acquired by the two listed groups, Tianyu Media and Huasheng Brothers, becoming their subsidiaries.

Thus, a completely new competitive landscape has emerged in the Chinese film market: on one side is an industry alliance centered around Xuanshi Entertainment, and on the other side are traditional power groups led by Tianyu Media and Huasheng Brothers, banding together for mutual support...

With mid-January approaching, the focus of the film market has suddenly shifted to the upcoming Spring Festival box office battle.

This battle is not only a contest for the annual box office, but also a head-on clash between emerging and established forces...

Amidst much anticipation, China's first Sino-US co-production blockbuster, "The Great Wall: Taotie," officially launched its global promotional campaign.

Director Li Zhengtao's name and the logo of Hollywood's top special effects team shone brightly on the overwhelming posters, and Tianyu Media spent a huge sum of money to take over outdoor advertising spaces in major cities across the country.

The trailer features an epic scene of the Taotie beast horde crashing into the Great Wall, coupled with an international cast, making the film a hit even before its release and hailed by the industry as "a milestone in the industrialization of Chinese cinema".

At the same time, XuanShi Entertainment's "WuHun 4" and "Black Robe Alliance 3" also launched their promotional campaigns.

Despite the absence of Zhou Yang, the two sequels have maintained high popularity, with directors Shen Long and Che Xiao frequently appearing on various variety shows to promote the films.

Of particular note is that "The Black Robe 3" was the first film shot in IMAX format, and the fight scenes of the superheroes in the trailer are incredibly impressive, clearly a response to the visual spectacle of "The Great Wall".

The market was in an uproar, with the pre-sale box office of the three major films racing against each other.

Standing in front of the movie theater posters, Liu Jiasheng stared at the three blockbuster movie posters displayed side by side, as if he could see the golden age of the rise of Chinese cinema unfolding before his eyes.

Not only him, but major media outlets also reported on it with headlines like "A Golden Age of Chinese Cinema Has Arrived," and discussions among audiences were in full swing. This Spring Festival film season is destined to become the most intense box office battle in the history of Chinese cinema.

Behind this smoke and fire... lies a new era for the industry after Zhou Yang's departure, and also marks the beginning of a true path to maturity for Chinese cinema.

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

"Okay, I understand!"

"Okay, that's fine then..."

"Take good care of yourself during your pregnancy. I'll be back after I finish watching the movie... I'll tell you how it went..."

"Ok!"

"..."

On the eve of the Lunar New Year in 2007, a cold wind carrying firecracker debris swept past the cinema entrance.

Liu Jiasheng wrapped his scarf tightly around himself and stood alone in front of the huge poster for "The Great Wall: Taotie".

His wife's growing belly made it difficult for her to sit in the movie theater for long, so she didn't come this time. He held his phone to his ear, listening to her rambling on the other end of the line, "Remember to buy the merchandise for 'Wuhun 4'."

The queue at the ticket gate stretched like a dragon, young couples laughed and joked while holding popcorn, while he simply touched the movie ticket in his hand.

In 2007, a new landscape was quietly taking shape in China's film industry...

The capital behind [XuanShi Entertainment] and traditional capital have completely clashed across all industries!

Almost every now and then, you can see news about the opening of a certain cinema or the hot sales of a real estate project...

With the booming market, more and more IMAX theaters are appearing across the country...

As Liu Jiasheng walked into the screening room and sat down, he suddenly recalled the scene with Zhou Yang at the premiere of "Martial Soul 1" about four years ago...

wrong!

"Back then, it wasn't called 'Martial Soul 1', but 'King of Beasts'."

That year, Chinese cinema cowered in the shadow of Hollywood, trembling with fear, with no one willing to resist...

That year, Zhou Yang created one box office miracle after another by riding the wave of popularity of Hollywood movies.

That year...

Today, the Chinese film market has formed a new three-way balance of power, and the battle is raging in this new era.

In the screening room, Liu Jiasheng silently looked at the movie schedule...

This year's Spring Festival film season is quite special for Chinese films.

Apart from the Sino-US co-production "The Great Wall: Taotie", there were no Hollywood blockbusters as in previous years.
……

"Okay, okay!"

"okay!"

"I'll buy it, don't worry..."

"Yes, as a gift for my child in the future..."

"..."

Just as Liu Jiasheng hung up the phone with his wife again...

He sensed that someone was sitting next to him.

Then...

He turned his head instinctively.

But then, a familiar figure appeared, sitting right beside him…

"Zhou, Zhou, President Zhou..."

He was slightly startled when he saw the figure.

But then the figure smiled and gestured for him to keep his voice down.

He nodded subconsciously, but still felt a surge of excitement.

A few moments later, more people started sitting down nearby...

Immediately afterwards...

He saw that Zhang Yunyi and others, along with the dazzling special effects, had also sat down.

Immediately afterwards...

"Our next movie's special effects must surpass this one." Zhou Yang pointed to the screen, his expression serious. "After all, we're going to usher in the MonsterVerse era, so the scale has to be huge. By the way, Mr. Zhang, do you know how many monsters Hollywood has right now? Get me a detailed list, including the Japanese ones..."

"What Mr. Zhou means is..."

“From now on, we’ll follow whatever they make. Since they’re going to launch a monster universe, we’ll do the same. They release one movie, we’ll release one ahead of them. Now, the most important thing is to search for their movie information and plans, and target them one by one, until they have no chance to fight back…” Zhou Yang narrowed his eyes.

"But didn't you say you were leaving the film industry? Why are you still here?" Just then, Liu Jiasheng heard the conversation, his expression slightly hardened, and he subconsciously asked in a low voice.

“I only said I was resigning from my management position for a year, I didn’t say I wouldn’t make movies.” Zhou Yang smiled. “What’s wrong with making a few monster movies in this year? We don’t have to directly copy Hollywood monster designs, but we can borrow some names, right? We can refer to their shooting framework and release them before they do, that’s reasonable, isn’t it?”

"I'll film whatever they film, and if they film fast, we'll film even faster!"

Just then, the lights in the screening room gradually dimmed.

The Great Wall, touted as China's first monster movie and the first large-scale co-production between China and the United States, slowly began amidst Zhou Yang's meaningful smile...

(End of this chapter)