Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 646 Just setting a schedule, a strategic retreat? (I burned my hand while setting off fireworks, only two chapters in a row)

The news of a new release date for "Interstellar" was like a magnitude 12 earthquake, causing a violent shock in the global film industry.

In Hollywood, the atmosphere in the conference rooms of major film studios was more tense than ever before.

The executives stared with furrowed brows at the densely packed film schedule, on which "Interstellar" was highlighted in bold red font, like a prehistoric behemoth coiled on the map of November, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression.

Both Variety and The Hollywood Reporter's homepages featured the same story in bold black headlines.

The text is filled with schadenfreude over this "schedule battle".

Small and medium-budget films that originally aimed for the Thanksgiving holiday season and hoped to grab a share of the market have now scattered like birds and beasts, changing their release dates overnight and escaping faster than anyone else.

Companies that changed their release dates to October or December to avoid August breathed a sigh of relief, and there were even faint cheers of relief coming from their offices.

At an internal meeting at Disney Studios, the project manager in charge of "The Muppets" looked at the calendar and felt a pang of regret.

"This year's Thanksgiving timing is particularly good."

November 18th is a Friday, followed by Thanksgiving on the 24th, making it a four-day public holiday.

This means that from the 18th to the 27th, there are six days of holiday and a full weekend. This should be the prime time for family-friendly movies like ours to rake in box office revenue…

Everyone present understood what he meant.

This period serves as a bridge between the Thanksgiving season and the Christmas shopping season.

This release window, which emphasizes "heartwarming" and "family" themes, would never consider releasing a pure action blockbuster like "Mission: Impossible 4."
But who would have thought that such a big film as "Interstellar" would appear this year?

"I don't recommend releasing it on the same day as Interstellar; the risks are too uncontrollable," a senior publishing officer said first.

“I agree. Universal dared to release this film in this time slot, which clearly shows they value its family appeal. If we rashly go head-to-head with them, it will be very disadvantageous for us.”

"Wu's science fiction film must be treated with the utmost respect before we receive definite information about internal screenings. Otherwise, if problems arise..."

Although no further words were spoken, they exchanged glances and saw the seriousness in each other's eyes.

If a project incurs huge losses, they all have to report to the board of directors. This is no joke; it directly affects their salaries and year-end bonuses for the following year.

"Then... postpone it to the 23rd? Avoid them for a few days?"

Someone tentatively suggested it.

"If Interstellar becomes a huge hit in the first few days, it will still have a huge impact on us."

"But it's better than running into them on day one! If, and I mean if, their reputation isn't as good as expected, that would actually be to our advantage!"

"What about Twilight 4? Let's move it to the 23rd, just in case it catches up."

"Just a purely fan-oriented movie!"

The group quickly came up with a solution.

It's not shameful to postpone something by a few days to give a blockbuster a few days of space.

If you stubbornly insist on going your own way and end up getting crushed, that would be truly shameful.

Meanwhile, in the conference room of Peak Entertainment, an almost identical conversation was taking place.

"The 23rd? Should we postpone it by a few days too?"

"What if Disney's 'The Muppets' movie is also moved to that day?"

"It's alright. The Twilight fanbase fears no competition!"

Soon, the two film studios tacitly agreed to release official announcements regarding the schedule adjustments.

The announcement was worded very cleverly, claiming that the decision to "minorly adjust" the film's release date was "in order to provide audiences with better viewing options and screening space."

It must be said that foreigners also understand the art of language very well.

The word "fine-tuning" is used very aptly.

There was little ridicule from within the industry, after all, it wasn't something shameful, and everyone had to protect their jobs.

But netizens in North America were in an uproar.

"That's hilarious! What do you mean by 'fine-tuning'? Isn't that just running away in the middle of the night in a panic?" "Interstellar: I haven't even made a move, and you've already collapsed?"

"This is absolute dominance! Wu's movies now have the 'clearing out the theaters before release' buff!"

"I feel sorry for my Twilight series for a second. I just dodged one, and then I ran into another. It's so tragic!"

In a high-end restaurant in Los Angeles, Jason Blum, looking at the sarcastic tweets on his phone, couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing at Wu Chen, who was cutting his steak:
"Wow... Wu, you now have a clear-out buff."

Upon hearing this, Wu Chen simply smiled and took a sip of red wine.

"By the way, Jason, do me a favor."

“Oh? Go on.” Jason Blum immediately became interested and listened attentively.

"A new director supported by my company made a science fiction film called Ex Machina."

"After it's released in China in July, could you help me check it out and promote it? The film's content is quite interesting; perhaps a North American company would like to buy it for adaptation and remake."

Before Jason Blum could speak, David Lyndon asked curiously, "Wu, you were involved in your company's film?"

"Yes, I wrote the script outline," Wu Chen said casually.

Upon hearing this, David Lyndon and Jason Blum's eyes lit up instantly.

If Wu Chen himself wrote the script framework, then the nature of the situation would be completely different!

“Oh, Wu!” David Lyndon immediately raised his glass and clinked it with Wu Chen’s. “I believe a lot of people will be interested. Universal will help you take a look.”

"Having your name on it would make it easier to market!"

Jason Blum felt that this matter should not be difficult, especially since it was related to Wu Chen.

"Try not to mention me."

"OK! OK!"

……

News from Hollywood quickly spread back to China via the internet.

After being reprinted and processed by domestic media, the headlines became even more sensational.

[A bombshell! Interstellar reigns supreme this Thanksgiving, prompting Disney and Summit Entertainment to flee and hastily adjust their release dates!]

[Wu Chen single-handedly disrupts global film release schedules! The power of "Interstellar" is beginning to show.]

Interstellar to be released on November 18, simultaneously in multiple locations worldwide, North American release schedule thrown into chaos.

For a time, industry insiders and netizens in China were all stunned.

"Damn! Those arrogant Hollywood production companies are all actively giving Wu Chen some space? So it's perfectly normal for a small, struggling domestic company like mine to change its release date just to save itself, right?"

"Even Hollywood understands the meaning of 'a wise man submits to circumstances,' so there's no reason why we shouldn't! We must change! We absolutely have to change!"

"Hey, look, these foreigners are running faster than anyone else! I'd better run too!"

For a time, an unprecedented wave of "release date changes" swept through the domestic film industry.

Some films originally scheduled for November or early December have issued announcements stating that due to "technical reasons" or "for better market performance," their release dates have been adjusted to next year.

Everyone tacitly agreed that they all wanted to get as far away from that giant beast as possible.

Netizens were in stitches when they saw this spectacular sight.

"Damn, Director Wu, you're awesome! Just one change of release date and the film companies are trembling with fear!"

"Hahaha, this scene is too beautiful for me to bear! I suggest that from now on, the name 'Wu Chen' should be written directly into the Chinese almanac, indicating it's auspicious for marriage but inauspicious for filming!"

"Please, please stop running! If you keep running, the Lunar New Year film season will be completely overcrowded again!"

"Upstairs, what do you know! This is called a strategic retreat! Look at Disney, they call it a 'minor adjustment' of the release schedule!"

(End of this chapter)