This director lacks vision.

Chapter 298 The Essence of Setting Sail

The live stream of the high-speed chase was a great success.

According to actual statistics, more than 600 million people watched the live broadcast that night on Sohu Entertainment, Sohu Video, and Panda TV, plus the audience reached by the movie channel.

Nearly ten million viewers watched the live stream.

Subsequent live stream clips and program edits have also been widely circulated across the internet, accumulating over 100 million views.

Jiang Yifeng's response to the controversy surrounding the rapid pursuit was sincere, which garnered him a lot of support.

"I am part of the silent majority. I'm making a point of speaking out this time: I really enjoy the chase."

"Although I'm embarrassed to admit it, I enjoy watching John Wick."

Although I felt a little embarrassed when Jiang Ning said, "No one can defeat me with my background music," it was genuinely exhilarating.

"I wasn't really in sync with the action sequences, and the amazing moments were too distracting, but overall it was alright. The action sequences and the soundtrack were excellent, so the flaws didn't detract from the overall quality."

……

Many people began to speak out.

Even a prominent film and television blogger named MR.Wang published an article titled "What Makes Us Unhappy?"

"I watched Jiang Yifeng's live stream tonight. He responded to the controversy surrounding the 'Rapid Pursuit' incident, which made me feel gratified."

His style of fast-paced pursuit, in particular, is absolutely brilliant.

To take showing off and being cool to the extreme, that's what Super Chase is all about.

This reminds me of when I was studying film production at the University of Southern California, and I took a course on commercial films.

The first sentence the teacher wrote in class was: Commercial films must learn to be superficial.

I didn't understand at the time, so I asked my teacher, "Do people watch shallow movies? Aren't they bad movies?"

The teacher replied, "Most people in this world are superficial, including you and me."

Please remember that superficial things can make you happy, such as fried chicken and cola, sexy women, or getting rich overnight.

Those profound things that require you to think are actually educational and contrary to human nature.

This kind of work is expressed in art films, not in the realm of commercial films.

The essence of commercial films is that audiences pay money to have fun.

This simple principle is something that most directors in China's entertainment industry don't understand.

Only Jiang Yifeng knows how to simplify and restrain his desire to express himself, making films that are superficial yet bring joy.

John Wick is a standard commercial film that lets you experience the thrill of showing off and being cool.

This movie takes this thrill to the extreme, making it an excellent commercial film.

But there is a group of people who want to find depth in commercial films.

Why don't you think about how Iron Man flies?

What else does Avatar have besides special effects and visuals?
Do you think Hollywood blockbusters have any substance?

Jiang Yifeng's words last night were actually quite polite; he simply took the blame upon himself and did not accuse anyone else.

But D'Addario's words said it all.

She said that the fast-paced chase would be popular in both the United States and Japan.

This reminds me of the unique culture of suffering in our Chinese nation.

We always praise hardship but are ashamed to talk about happiness.

It seems that pursuing happiness is a sin.

Pursuing superficial pleasure is compounding your sins and reveals your character flaws.

Games have been demonized.

This is why, even though many people love watching John Wick, they dare not speak out.

Because John Wick is too superficial and tries to be abstract, everyone is criticizing John Wick, so they are ashamed to speak up and dare not express their true thoughts.

The older generation has already done it this way, and I hope that our new generation of young people will bravely speak out what they like, enjoy what they should enjoy, and be happy when they should be happy.

This should be the most important meaning of life.

Jiang Yifeng must have thought the same way, which is why he filmed "The Fast and the Furious" to lighten everyone's mood.

Here, I want to shout it out loud: No one can defeat me with my background music playing!

MR.Wang's Weibo post quickly became a trending topic, sparking heated discussions once again.

There were many comments under this Weibo post.

"I'm exploding! I love Ultraman, I've loved him since I was little, but I've always kept it a secret since I grew up! Unite! X!"

"We are indeed living too heavily. Happiness is simple, but we make things too complicated."

"Anyone here who likes mobile Water Margin card games? It's just my pointless hobby!"

"You killed my dog, you'll pay with your life! Now is my godlike moment! Nobody can beat me with my background music playing! No, that's still too embarrassing, I'd better comment anonymously."

……

With Jiang Yifeng's live streams and more and more people speaking out, Rapid Pursuit's reputation online has improved significantly.

The Douban rating also rose to 6.8, still the lowest among all of Jiang Yifeng's films.

Jiang Yifeng ignored all of this.

After the live broadcast ended, he and Daddario flew to the United States overnight to begin a rapid crackdown on their propaganda efforts in North America.

Warner Bros. was the distributor for the North American release of John Wick, so they still have a lot of influence.

In addition, Wanda has successfully acquired AMC, the second largest cinema chain in North America, and will give John Wick preferential treatment in terms of film scheduling.

That's why John Wick has 3358 theaters, ranking second during the Christmas season.

This isn't actually that outrageous, since strictly speaking, John Wick isn't a Chinese-language film.

Apart from Jiang Yifeng and Wang Baoqiang, two Chinese actors, the rest of the cast are foreigners, so it can be considered an English-language film.

If we really want to define it precisely, it's a bilingual film co-produced by China and the United States.

At 8:12 p.m. on December 24th, US time, the plane landed at Los Angeles International Airport, where Li Shaowei was there to pick him up.

As one of the producers of "John Wick," he represented Fengxing Media in North America, collaborating with Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. for promotion and distribution. However, Jiang Yifeng hadn't anticipated that standing beside Li Shaowei was Li Sisi, a rising star and well-known female host from CCTV.

"Hello, Mr. Jiang, I am Li Sisi. You can call me Sisi or Xiao Li."

Jiang Yifeng carefully examined Li Sisi. This beauty had a standard oval face; although not stunningly beautiful, it was still quite pretty and well-proportioned.

At this time, she had not yet had plastic surgery, her chin was not pointed, and she looked quite pleasing overall.

Seemingly noticing Jiang Yifeng's confusion, Li Shaowei explained, "With the support of our Fengxing Media, Chinese films and television dramas have achieved good results in overseas markets over the past two years."

Therefore, CCTV plans to produce a promotional video called "Sailing Out to Sea," which will mainly document the overseas journeys of some film and television productions.

Our high-speed chase is a key project to be filmed in the promotional video. Ms. Li Sisi is fluent in English and came with the team to film and conduct interviews.

"Ms. Li volunteered to host the movie premiere tomorrow, which was a great help to us."

If Chinese films and television dramas truly have influence overseas, state media will generally do special reports on them.

Jiang Yifeng's previous works, such as "Dark Glory," "Hunting," and "Pacific Rim," as well as his hit drama "Back to 20" in the Pan-Asian region, have all been reported.

However, all of these were produced by Fengxing Media alone. Without other companies joining in to form a collaborative effort, CCTV was unable to coordinate its reporting and elevate its impact.

This year, however, the situation is quite different.

Jiang Yifeng's emergence, especially after Stranger Things' great success in North America, led many American companies to turn their attention to China.

In November, HBO began contacting the production team of "Empresses in the Palace," saying that it intended to buy the rights to the series and broadcast it after making some cuts.
The Legend of Zhen Huan became a huge hit in China this year, generating a great deal of discussion.

This news has attracted considerable attention.

In an interview, Zheng Xiaolong stated that "Empresses in the Palace" will become the first TV series to air on American cable television.

This statement seems to indicate that "Empresses in the Palace" has been confirmed to air on HBO, drawing praise and acclaim from many.

In early December, Netflix announced that it would collaborate with Cheng Kaige to invest 60 million US dollars in the production of the first season of Marco Polo.

Upon hearing these two pieces of news, CCTV couldn't sit still. They felt the time was ripe to produce a promotional video for Chinese films and television dramas and related talents going overseas, in order to vigorously promote the achievements of cultural export.

Upon hearing Li Shaowei's introduction, Jiang Yifeng nodded and said, "Thank you for your help, Sisi."

Li Sisi quickly said, "President Jiang, you're too kind. I should be thanking you for giving me the opportunity to host. It was only after arriving in the United States that I realized how capable you are."

After arriving in the United States for interviews and investigations, Li Sisi finally understood the background of "Empresses in the Palace" and "Marco Polo".

This is not because Chinese films and television dramas or directors have suddenly become popular, but rather the result of competition between Netflix and HBO to recruit Jiang Yifeng.

After the huge success of Stranger Things, Netflix has certainly transformed itself, but Hastings is still anxious, believing that one season of Stranger Things is not enough.

Netflix's biggest competitor is HBO.

Putting aside everything else, HBO also holds the trump card of the series – Game of Thrones.

This show is only in its second season, and the third season will be released next year.

Hastings wanted Jiang Yifeng to quickly film the second season of Stranger Things to maintain the show's popularity, but Jiang Yifeng said he didn't have the time.

The rights to the show belong to Fengxing Media, so Netflix can't make a second season independently of Fengxing Media.

Hastings was already somewhat dissatisfied with this situation, but Warner Bros. was still the distributor for John Wick.

HBO is a subsidiary of WarnerMedia.

Hastings believes that Jiang Yifeng is flirting with HBO.

Then in November, HBO deliberately contacted the production team of "Empresses in the Palace" to show its appreciation for Chinese films, television dramas, and directors, which led Hastings to misunderstand.

In order to put pressure on Jiang Yifeng, he directly announced the Marco Polo series project and confirmed that Cheng Kaige would be the director.

Even without Jiang Yifeng, Netflix would still have made a Marco Polo film.

They plan to use an epic drama that combines Eastern and Western elements to counter Game of Thrones.

However, after Jiang Yifeng appeared, the Marco Polo project was launched a few months earlier, and the director was changed to Cheng Kaige.

Jiang Yifeng didn't care about this matter.

Even on Sohu Video, there are competitors like Huanrui Media's production of "Zhu Xian" and Fengxing Media.

Not to mention Netflix.

Content creators and platforms have always cooperated through competition and adjustment; this is the norm.

Netflix is ​​operating normally.

Despite introducing new projects to compete for the rights, Hastings still promoted Jiang Yifeng and Stranger Things in the United States, preparing for the filming of the second season of the show.

Without Netflix's promotion, Jiang Yifeng wouldn't be so famous in the United States.

We are all mature members of society.

I just wonder what Chen Kaige's Marco Polo will be like. Jiang Yifeng is quite looking forward to it, wondering just how bad it will be...

Yangshi was unaware of the complexities involved at the beginning.

That's why there's a promotional video about setting sail.

Now that they know the truth, Li Sisi's team at Yangshi is also in a bind, unsure how to film the promotional material.

Ultimately, all this effort to go global still relies on Jiang Yifeng and Fengxing Media, just like before.

Jiang Yifeng didn't think too much about it. He chatted with Li Sisi for a few minutes and then got into a minivan.

Today is Christmas Eve in the United States, and the roads are extremely congested.

In the car, Daddario said to his sister Catherine, "Didn't you say you had good friends in Los Angeles?"

The implication was that they wanted Catherine to leave.

A woman's intuition is often accurate, and D'Addario sensed something was off about the way Catherine looked at him, the "Demon Lord."

She knew Jiang Yifeng well; Catherine looked a lot like her, and Jiang Yifeng would definitely be interested.

So Daddario wanted to prevent any potential problems by getting rid of Catherine.

Unexpectedly, Catherine said, "Tonight is Christmas Eve, and my friend is spending time with her family."

Sister, you can't just leave me all alone on Christmas Eve, can you?

Daddario: "..."

(End of this chapter)