I am a historical film director in the entertainment industry.

"Row."

Master Han and the others nodded; what they were about to discuss could not be overheard by outsiders.

Cheng Sheng led the group to a private room arranged by the cinema staff.

"Gentlemen, now you can speak! What exactly do you want with this kid?"

After sitting down, Cheng Sheng got straight to the point and asked.

Han Sanye and the others exchanged glances, and Lu Zheng spoke up: "Director Cheng, you know the movie Avatar, right?"

"know."

Cheng Sheng nodded, somewhat puzzled. How could he not know about Avatar, a movie with such a huge investment?

Cheng Sheng has another memory, and he is all too aware of the impact of this film, which has influenced the development and technological changes in the global film industry.

But Avatar hasn't even been released yet, so why are Han Sanye and the others bringing up this movie?
Did they have precognitive abilities and know that this movie would have a huge impact?

"According to our information, the total investment in Avatar was about $4 million, which is more than 28 billion yuan. Filming just wrapped up at the end of last month," Lu Zheng said.

After hearing what Lu Zheng said, everyone except Cheng Sheng frowned.

In China, a film investment of 100 million RMB is considered a large investment, but compared to the US, domestic films seem small-scale.

Everyone present was a big name in the industry, and they all hoped to make the film a big success and catch up with Hollywood.

Compared to Hollywood's investment, the gap between domestic films and those in the US seems to be widening.

"What does this have to do with you looking for me?" Cheng Sheng was still puzzled.

“Xiao Cheng, don’t you think the gap between China and Hollywood is widening? This is very detrimental to the development of the domestic film industry,” said Han Sanye.

"President Han, I understand what you're saying, but there's nothing I can do about it," Cheng Sheng said with a wry smile.

He has another set of memories, so how could he not know how big the gap is between Hollywood and domestic films?

First, there's the industry scale and market structure.

Currently, the Chinese film market has not yet formed a stable distribution of release dates throughout the year, with box office revenue highly concentrated in the Lunar New Year period (such as "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers"). In contrast, Hollywood has established a balanced distribution system with multiple release dates throughout the year (summer, Christmas, winter vacation, etc.).

Furthermore, while there are many domestically produced films, their quality varies greatly. In 2006, China produced 400 films, ranking fourth in the world, but the average cost per film was only about 700 million yuan, less than 1/17 of that of British films, and far below the production level of Hollywood blockbusters.

According to another memory, if Cheng Sheng hadn't appeared, the Chinese box office charts would have been dominated by imported films that controlled the high-end market for many years to come.

Although Cheng Sheng has several films that top the domestic box office charts, apart from Cheng Sheng's films, none of the other domestic directors' films are competitive.

One person's victory is not a victory; the victory of the majority is the true victory.

Secondly, China's technology and industrialization levels are far behind those of Hollywood, which is one of the reasons for the gap between the two countries.

Hollywood has a revolutionary advantage in special effects and production technology. For example, the recently completed film "Avatar" used 3D technology and showcased world-leading visual capabilities, while Chinese films are significantly behind in hard technical indicators such as special effects, sound effects, and makeup.

Besides special effects, Hollywood has a standardized script evaluation mechanism (such as page-by-page screening and audience psychology data-driven approaches), while Chinese films are still immature in terms of story structure, pacing, and commercial experience. Third, cultural export and global influence.

Hollywood films possess a global cultural strategy; their films are not only entertainment products but also carriers of national image and values, making them widely accepted by audiences worldwide. Chinese films, on the other hand, lack a systematic overseas promotion mechanism and the ability to resonate with the world's culture.

Furthermore, domestic films rely heavily on talent from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Currently, half of the mainland film industry is related to Hong Kong and Taiwan, with the main actors being mostly Hong Kong and Taiwan artists, while mainland artists often play supporting roles and villains.

This reflects the marginal status of the mainland Chinese film industry on the international stage.

Finally, there are market environment and policy restrictions.

China imports only a small number of revenue-sharing blockbusters each year (such as 20), but even so, Hollywood still manages to dominate the box office with works like "Transformers" and "Harry Potter".

Another issue is the shrinking market in small and medium-sized cities. In 2007, the national box office was concentrated in about 400 new cinemas in large and medium-sized cities, while the number of moviegoers in small and medium-sized cities accounted for a very low percentage, which restricted the release of market potential.

Based on these four comparisons, although Chinese films have made breakthroughs in production volume and local box office, there is still a generational gap with Hollywood in terms of industrialization, technological strength, cultural influence, and market operation.

Therefore, no one in China understands the gap between Chinese films and Hollywood films better than Cheng Sheng.

"Director Cheng, let me be frank! After discussions among several companies, we invited you here because we want to invest together in a big-budget production," Yu Dong said.

Cheng Sheng was stunned for a moment, then blurted out, "A big production? What kind of big production? Is it even bigger than my 'Zheng He's Voyages'?"

The film "Zheng He's Voyages to the West" was invested in by several companies, including Huayi Brothers owned by Mr. Wang, with each company contributing 200 million yuan. In addition, the Xishan coal mine owners and the Central Academy of Drama also contributed shares, bringing the total investment to nearly 1 billion yuan.

Isn't this kind of investment considered a big production?

Upon hearing this, Master Han and the others exchanged glances. Then Master Han spoke up, saying, "The investment in 'Zheng He's Voyages to the West' is huge, but we hope that Director Cheng can direct a science fiction film instead."

Sci-fi movie!
Cheng Sheng was stunned.

Before "The Wandering Earth" was released, were there any decent science fiction films in China?

This is not Cheng Sheng belittling domestic science fiction films, but rather because the so-called science fiction films before "The Wandering Earth" were simply too bad and did not resemble science fiction films at all.

What exactly makes a good science fiction film? What qualities should an excellent science fiction film possess?
The most direct manifestation of science fiction is the application of new technologies, and a movie often requires an investment of hundreds of millions.

With box office revenue in the billions, it's all worthwhile for investors to spend big money to develop new technologies.

Many new technologies are first used in movies.

Many film companies even develop new software specifically for creating special effects for their films.

If we're talking about competing on technology, then the country with no shortage of money and technology in the world is definitely the United States.

In the 1960s and 70s, the development of Star Wars directly changed the landscape of Hollywood cinema.

Therefore, decades of development have laid a solid industrial foundation for the United States' science fiction films.

In summary, a good science fiction film must possess a sound structure (i.e., imaginative text), excellent special effects technology, and substantial financial backing. (End of Chapter)